A flash of feelings
by SuperUltraMegaMiko
Summary: First, forced to fight to the death for seemingly no reason... Then they go out drinking for the after party? What's the worst that could happen? (Co-written. Link is grown up MM Link/OoT Link, Cloud is in his Advent Children attire.)
1. I just killed you, let's go drinking

"KO!"

An announcer shouts as Link walks away. Then Link stops... He can't just leave Cloud's body there. He is quick to turn around and runs back to Cloud. He pulls out a bottle with a fairy in it, letting it out to revive Cloud. Link then holds out his hand waiting for Cloud to take it once he comes too.

Cloud groans, coming to quickly.

"Ah, you're ok!" Link says, a smile on his face.

Cloud shakes his head for a moment. "Nothing too serious." He looks up at Link, getting up himself. "No need." He says simply, mounting his giant sword on his back. "I must say, you're a pretty fair opponent. " Cloud points out, looking at his own body. A few scratches and cuts here and there, even a giant gash in his leg, but the fairy seemed to have cure it, which he thought was strange. "I appreciate the help...but it wasn't needed."  
"I killed you! I couldn't leave your body just... Dead there!" Link replies, looking worried about Cloud.

Cloud shrugs. "I...guess you're right. I just...thought of something else. No need to worry." The blonde lets out his gloved hand, allowing Link to shake it. "Good match."  
Link jumps a little but shakes his hand. "Yeah... But I kinda feel bad about it... We were just called in to fight to the death for no reason... I hope we can battle again without those consequences some day!" Link says, looking hopeful. There is then awkward silence for around 10 seconds.

"So... Have anything you are going to do now?" Link asks.  
Cloud shakes his head. "Not really. Back home, I just resolved a huge conflict. Now that its over, I can go do my normal job." He explains.  
"Great! I was thinking we could both go to the Milk Bar... You know, so we can get to know each other better!" Link offers.  
Cloud looks puzzled. "Milk bar? That's strange...but sounds like a good idea, anyways. Do they serve, more...then just milk?"  
Link nods. "Kids aren't allowed in it normally after all..." He comments. "I can take us there in a jiffy!"

Cloud nodded in interest. "Sounds like a plan. I'm ready when you are."

Link quickly links arms with Cloud and pulls out his Ocarina. He plays the Song of Soaring and the two young men are wrapped up by big wings and the world around them starts spinning... When it stops, they wind up in the peaceful town of Clock Town, no moon to ruin the mood. "Now follow me!" Link runs off.

Cloud looks confused for a moment, before running off and catching up to Link. He was surprisingly fast, too. He sees Link stop at a doorway, with a sign above it spelling "Milk bar". Cloud looks at Link. "I've never seen something as strange as this."

"Oh, you should have seen this place when the moon was falling." Link laughs a bit. Then he straps on a hat that looks like a cow to his head and knocks on the door, the door opens and Link drags Cloud inside.

Cloud grunts softly from the sudden movement, entering the building quickly. He looks at Link with a weird expression, shaking his head. _"I'll ask the questions later..."_ He thinks, walking with Link. Cloud feels like he doesn't fit in with the crowd, but it was expected, as he was foreign to the place.

Link took off his hat and sat down at the bar. "Two Chateau Romanis please!" Link orders. The orders come quickly and Link gives one of them to Cloud. "Trust me, it may look like milk but it's even better than milk..."  
"Strange..." Cloud takes the beverage and puts the glass up to his mouth, taking a sip. He puts it down afterwards, taking in the flavour. "Has a nice aftertaste, for sure. My friend owns a bar back home...I know a little bit about drinking I guess. I can't wait to tell her about this."

Link plops down a big bag of rupees on the table, signalling to the bar tender they will be here for a while. And that they will need a few more drinks. "Really? This is actually the only bar I'm allowed in!"  
Cloud seems suprised at the ammount Link wants to spend. "I-I don't think I'll be drinking that much..." He says, taking another sip of his so-called milk. "This is a strange world you live in. I'm not used to it."

"Money is everywhere in the grass, it's fine." Link comments. "And I guess it is strange... Well, a world where piles of what looks like puke and sand are after your shields _would_ be considered strange..."  
"Wow...you're right I suppose. I mean, you must find it strange to see weapons this big." Cloud points to the sword on his back, taking another sip of his drink. "I could get used to this. Its pretty good, and hard."  
"I'm not really surprised by the size of your weapon, I've got the Biggron sword that's almost as big, but my trusty Master Sword can shoot beams and dispel evil, and it's one handed so that's why I prefer to use it..." Link wipes his mouth to get rid of the Milk on his face. It's also to note that his face is slowly turning pink.  
Cloud nods, looking at his own drink. He notices that it was now only half full, which surprises him. Taking another sip, he sighs afterwards. "Trust me. Back at home, there are much bigger weapons no one man could weild. A giant armada was built, the Sister Ray. Its a massive cannon that could take down anything within miles."

"Cannon? I don't think we use those... Catapults are a thing though..." Link scratches his cheek and laughs a little.  
Cloud smirks softly. "Right. Its hard to explain such things that dont exist in your world. But hey, you'll learn a thing or two." He sips his drink, which was now a quarter full. "Back home, we would never serve milk at a bar, we think of it as obscure. I'd give examples of what we would drink, but you wouldn't recognise them. Maybe you should come visit sometime."  
"Yeah, I think your world sounds interesting, I'd love to visit! And like I said, this isn't ordinary milk..." Link replies, already on his 4th drink.

Cloud observes the three empty glasses he had on the counter, along with his fourth. "Wow...I just finished my first." He points out, as the bartender served Cloud another one without him asking. "They seem to serve us well." Cloud says, sipping his drink generously. "It's really good."  
"Not to mention its high quality and really fresh!" Link finishes his 4th cup and flops his head on the desk and plays around with the empty glasses. "In your world... Do you have any source of power from gods? Do you even have gods?" He asks, cheeks having now become completely pink.  
"We don't have... Gods. This may sound strange, but we believe that our own planet is an entity that protects itself. When it gets hurt, it heals itself with the Lifestream, basically... Its own blood, you could say." Clohd explains, looking at Link. "You get drunk easily, don't you..." He says, starting to get a little drunk himself.

"Whaaaaat? No, I've been drinking this stuff since I was a kid! D... Don't ask..." Link replies, letting a little hiccup out. "I wonder how strange the mushroom kingdom is? I've battled there but I've never gotten a good tour of the place... Although I dooooo know of some strange things there." Link then chugs down a 5th glass in 5 seconds flat and turns to Cloud, starting to play with his hair. "Your hair is spikyyyy... How do you get it like this?"  
"I-I think you're mistaken..." Cloud reacts, turning his head slightly. "Its all natural, surprisingly." The blonde shrugs, letting Link play with his hair. He takes another sip of his second drink, finishing it. "I should really stop drinking, so should you."

Link laughs and falls into Cloud's lap. "Ohkaaaay... I know where we can go too! F... Follow me!" Link tries getting up but falls on the floor.  
Cloud takes once last sip of the milk, leaving his third glass half full, then helping Link up. "Hey, take it easy." He jokes, feeling more drunk than before. He didn't drink as much as Link, so he could at least walk normally. "Lead the way...but don't get careless..."

Link laughs and points the way out. "Am I lighter than your sword?"  
Cloud shrugged. "You probably are, I mean, its about 100 pounds of metal and dust...and I'm pretty sure you aren't metal." He jokes some more, following Link out the doorway.

Link pointed to the Inn not to far away. "I have access to a room in there." He says, followed by a hiccup.

Cloud's eyes widened slightly, as he followed Link, who naturally ran to the Inn, almost tripping on the way. "Why are we going in here?" Cloud asks, knowing Link wouldn't be able to answer properly.  
"Where else are we going to go?" Link replies, then running up the stairs and kissing the ground as he trips on the last step.  
Cloud now grew confused, but smiling softly. "You sure are crazy when you're drunk...I like that..." He spoke, feeling his body become energetic from the milk. The blonde helped Link get up again, as they headed to they're designated room.

Link flops on the bed and kicks off his boots to reveal plain white socks, then he removes his cap to reveal his somewhat messy dirty blonde hair. "Make yourself at home I guess!"  
"Alright." Cloud shrugs, taking his boots off as well, along with his pauldron. The room was plain, but simple and modern. It had a bed with a nice lamp, even a small patio outside.

* * *

Link flutters his eyes at Cloud with a cheeky smile, starting to remove his top.

Cloud stares back at Link, not looking away. "Y-You don't need to...do that..." He says lazily, his cheeks a slight pink colour now. Now he was drunk, but again, not as much as Link. Cloud sees Link's bare torso, interested. "Well then..."

Link - without saying a word - pulls Cloud toward him and they both fell on the bed. "Take my pants off." Link requests. If you couldn't tell before, Link's breath was a clear sign he was full-on drunk.

Cloud grunts softly and smirks, moving his hands straight to Link's pants. He pulls them off quickly and throws them down to the floor somewhere. He then grabs Link, rolling him onto his back so that he was on top of Link. With Link's face completely pink, Cloud wanted to see more. "You seem adventurous..."  
"My courage takes me many places..." Link says with a smirk.

Cloud smiles. "That's good to know..." He positions Link's hands above his head, securing his wrists. He then began to kiss and bite Link's neck gently. Cloud closed his eyes while doing this. "You're sweating already..." He mutters.  
"Well you're beginning to turn as pink as me..." Link manages to get out between the short moans, trying to use it as a defensive comeback.

Cloud sighs, breathing against his neck. "And I thought I was sensative..." He brought his head up, kissing Link deeply.  
Link kisses Cloud back, almost pushing against him.

Cloud pulls back, looking at Link's heated body. He hesitates for a moment, but brings his head down to Link's nipple, sucking it gently.  
"Nnnhh!" Link's face now showed that he was enjoying this, and he was probably infatuated with Cloud because of the earlier drinking.  
Cloud pulls back once more and smiles, looking at Link's face. "You can do better than that..." He jokes, moving to suck his other nipple. He brought one of his hands down, toying with the waistband of Link's boxers.  
Link clings to the sheets of the bed and manages to slip his socks off so he can also grab on with his toes. "D-don't be too rough..."

"I won't..." Cloud replies, releasing Link's other hand to relax him a little. He brings his head up to Link's neck, but this time the other side. He licks it gingerly, while pinching one of his nipples. "Feel good?"  
Link's body was sweating, but he looked more than satisfied with the pleasure he was receiving, he gave Cloud a few gentle kisses when he could.

Cloud stops what he is doing, moving his head down to his stomach. He bit the skin gently, making Link grow tense as he exposed his muscles. Cloud moans softly

Link grabbed onto Cloud's shirt and tried taking it off.  
Cloud groans again, sitting upwards and pulling his shirt off his body. He was sweating as well. "Thanks for...reminding me..." Cloud comments, then biting at Link's collarbone.

"Ahhh!" Link yelps in pleasure. He then gazes at Cloud's chest and starts to play with his nipples gently.

Cloud sighs, licking at Link's collarbone while he played with his nipples. He enjoyed it, strange enough. The milk really changed his whole mindset, but he didn't mind at all. Cloud gently thrusts his hips against Link's.  
Link was now blushing a deep red, mainly because he was hard now, and Cloud was brushing up against him.

Cloud moans softly, but it was overwhelmed by the amount of noise Link was making. He looks up at Link, his own face a bit red as well. "Should we go futher...?"  
Link manages to crack an eager look on his face and nods, cheekily licking Cloud's cheek.

Cloud let Link do what he wanted as he started trailing his hands down Link's body, then slowly pulling off his boxers. Once the boxers were removed, Link had a huge smile on his face. "You like my second Master Sword?"  
Cloud laughs softly. "You really are drunk... But to answer your question..." He pulled off his glove, then bringing his hand down to Link's erection and stroking it gently. "I love it..."

Link began moaning loudly. "F... Faster!"  
Cloud groans softly in response, stroking faster. He watches Link whine in pleasure, he's loving it. Cloud licks Link's cheek, using his other hand to pinch his nipple.  
"Gyaaaa!" Link eventually came in a controlled burst, but it still landed on the both of them. And now Link was horny... Well hornier. "Shall we... Crank it up another notch?"

With Cloud still hard, he couldn't refuse the offer. "If you're ok with it... I have an idea..." He stands up on his legs off the bed, helping Link up at as well. Suddenly, he pushes Link against the wall, with Link's back facing Cloud. Cloud smiles, leaning in to Link's ear. "It'll hurt..."  
"A little pain hasn't stopped me from enjoying something before..." Link replies, obviously ready.

Cloud smiles again, stepping back slightly to undo his pants, which slump down to his ankles. He didn't mind. Cloud does the same with his black boxers, then removing the other glove on his hand. He pushes Link to the wall, grinding his erection against Link's back. Cloud brought his fingers up to Link's mouth. "Suck..."

Link followed along and shoved them in his mouth, sucking and licking them all over.

Once Cloud was satisfied, he pulled his fingers out of Link's mouth, dragging one of his fingers along Link's cheek. "I've... Never really done this before... Let's see how this goes..." He explained, guiding one of his fingers to Link's entrance.  
"Hyaaa!" Link clung to the wall once Cloud's fingers penetrated him out of sudden pain, but he was also enjoying it.  
Cloud sighs a little with fake sympathy, moving his free hand and stroking Link's member again. He felt him getting hard once more, which satisfied Cloud. He adds in another finger, Link was tight.

Link glances at Cloud by turning his head. "I... I'm ready, shove... It, in..."

Cloud nods, slowly pulling his fingers out. He positions himself carefully, then thrusting into Link. It wasn't much, and he wasn't worried. The sheer tightness made pleasure surge through his body. Cloud groans softly with pleasure, pinning Link's wrists to the wall.  
"Ah! Right there!" Cloud has obviously rammed into Link's G-Spot, which gave Link a sudden surge of pleasure.

"Mm... That was fast..." Cloud comments. He moves in and out slowly, trying to get a nice pace started without hurting Link. Though this was impossible, Link seemed to enjoy it anyway, and so did Cloud. He brought his hand down, continuing to stroke Link's member.

"Ahhh... Yes!" Link seemingly looks as if he didn't want this to end, he seem to be enjoying it too much.  
Cloud starts groaning louder this time, gritting his teeth. He felt himself wanting to release, but he tried holding back. "L-Link...soon..." He muttered, thrusting again.

"I can take it!" Link replied, looking ready.

Cloud's eyes shut as he thrusts a few more times, feeling himself release and giving in, accompanied by a pleased yell. As if in synchronised harmony, Link also releases and yells in a similar fashion.

They are both left exhausted and sweaty.

"That... That was great!" Link says, sounding a little out of breath.  
Juice had splat itself on the wall and some on the floor, and the rest having to drip out of Link.

Cloud laughs softly, pulling himself out of Link. He was practically soaking wet due to the sweat. He turns Link around to face him, panting softly. "So...like what you see?"  
Link nods and clings to Cloud. "Exhausted..." He says.  
"I can tell..." Cloud hugs Link around his shoulders, picking him up and placing him down on the bed. He quickly grabs a towel from the bathroom that's near the door, wiping the sweat and semen off his own body. Cloud smiles at Link, still looking under the influence. "I'll clean you off, cutey..."  
Link smiles and giggles a little, followed by a yawn. "Thanks."

Cloud sits on the bed, placing the towel over Link's body. He starts by rubbing his chest, making sure to make him as dry as possible in all areas. Cloud then throws the towel near the wall, where their activity took place. Once finished, Cloud yawns and rests beside Link.

Both eventually fall asleep...


	2. Well, it can't get worse right?

In the morning, Link is the first to wake up and he had a bit of a hangover, holding his head. "Ugh... What happened yesterday? There was that fight... Then everything is just a blank..." Link puts his boxers and pants on then walks out to the Patio and stares at the rising sun.

Cloud wakes up shortly after Link, groaning. He scratches his head and sits up, looking around. "Why am I naked..." He thought, looking around for his clothes. He put his strangely dirty boxers on, along with his pants. Cloud noticed the towel slumped beside the wall, trying to piece together what happened yesterday. "I was with Link..."

"It's always nice see the sunrise... Pretty sure they serve breakfast here, so I'm gonna go eat..." Link walks back into the room and is startled by Cloud, reacting by yelling and almost fainting, falling on the ground.  
Cloud looks at Link, surprised. "Looks like we're both on the same page." He groans, rubbing his temples. "I don't usually get hangovers..."

"Uuurgh..." Link gets off the ground and holds his head. "What exactly happened...?"  
"Im not sure, but... I woke up naked, which is strange..." Cloud stood up, grabbing the towel and inspecting it. Suddenly, he dropped it again, wiping his hand on his pants. "Ugh..." Cloud looked at his hand... Then froze. "Link... I-I think... We..."  
Link's eyes widen. "It makes sense... That's the only logical explanation too... Oh Hylia, how drunk were we?"  
"I-I'm not sure. I could feel worse... But I certainly feel disgusting..." Cloud kept wiping his hand and groans, a little annoyed. "Let's just... Keep this to ourselves."  
Link nods and pretends to zip his lips up.

"Well, should we go eat? There isn't a specific place to eat but they serve food here, I'm sure of it..." Link offers.  
"Thats fine by me. I just want to know more about what happened." Cloud says, finding his shirt and putting in on.  
Link sighs. "The only way we can do that is by remembering, and who knows how long that'll take?" Link then starts getting properly dressed. "Come on, let's go downstairs.  
Cloud puts on the rest of his clothes and mounts his sword, following Link to the kitchen.

"Oh, good morning Link!" A lady in plain clothes and red hair greets him. "I assume you're here for breakfast." She says. Link nods. "Yes Anju..."  
"Oh, and who's this?" Anju asks, looking at Cloud.  
"Cloud. I'm with Link, it's good to meet you." Cloud introduces himself with a nod, then looking at Link. "What will you get?"  
"Ugh... I'll get anything that won't make me throw up..." Link answers. Anju laughs. "Too much Chateau Romani last night then? I got it... And you?" She asks Cloud.  
Cloud shrugs. "I'm not too familiar with the menu, surprise me."

"Alright then. I'll be done in a few minutes, go back to your room and I'll bring it up." Anju says, bowing.  
"Okay then, let's go Cloud." Link makes his way back, pressing against the wall to balance.  
Cloud sighs, following Link up to their room. "I better put the towel in the washing machine." He says, throwing the fabric into the machine once he gets it from the room. Coming back, he groans again and rubs his head.

Link holds out a bar of soap. "You might wanna wash your hands..." He says, too embarrassed to look at Cloud.  
"Y-Yeah, I'll get on that..." Cloud takes the soap and heads to the bathroom, washing his hands. He dries them off once he is done, then walking back to the bed.

As Cloud approached the bed, he sees that Link had pulled the sheets off of the bed and was examining them closely.  
There was a cum stain. It wasn't big but it was there.

Link was silent, but he began folding it up and quickly ran off to throw it in the laundry, when he came back...

"Gimme the soap."  
Cloud handed Link the soap, curious about what he was doing, since he didn't see anything wrong with the sheets.

Link quickly washed his hand and perfect timing! Anju was here with breakfast! There was some type of soup for Link and what looked like a basic breakfast for Cloud. "Here you go. Eat up!" She says, then leaving the room.

Cloud nodded and took his portion. It had an omlete with tomatoes and meat. He takes a bite... It tastes like chicken. "Remimds me of back home. Whst kind of meat it this?"  
"Well, we have cows here... It's probably cow... You have cows too right?" Link says, drinking his soup straight from the bowl.  
"We do, actually. At least some part of our worlds are similar." Cloud takes another bite of his omlete. "We also have other animals, like Chocobos. They're basically giant birds who run on two legs. You can even tame them and ride them. Have you heard of them?"  
Link shakes his head. "Speaking of birds, we have cuccos... Apparently they're similar to chickens. Cuccos lay eggs, are small enough to easily carry but make no mistake... Piss one off and you'll barely make it out alive." Link replies, drinking more of his soup.  
"I'm not surprised. Back home, making a Chocobo mad, they would literally run you over." Cloud explains, finishing his omlete and drinking a glass of water.

"Oh, you should see what happens... I think I have a video clip of Toon me... Lemme just..." Link rummages through his pockets and pulls out a Camera-like device. "Here, watch." Link shows the video on the device to Cloud. The video is of Toon Link being reluctant to beat up a Cucco, but does it anyway and then a Cucco army is summoned and attack him, thankfully Link - the one holding the camera - pulls him out of the flock of rage and runs, with Toon Link thanking him at the end.

"Huh... I don't remember that end bit..." Link comments.  
"Huh." Cloud comments. "Interesting. He's practically you, but smaller. I've never seen that before."

"Yeah, he's from a time period beyond the one we're currently in." Link can't help but smile. "We don't often see each other but it's nice when we do... He's like a little brother to me." He adds, now looking a little nostalgic.  
Cloud nods, understanding. "That sounds nice. I wonder what it would be like, to find a smaller version of me." He jokes, shaking his head. "That would just be obscure."  
"Well, he's my descendant so it makes some sense that he'd look like me." Link replies.  
"Yeah, it does." Cloud agrees, looking around.

"I wonder if I could show you something..." He rummages through his pocket, grabbing a green orb that glows. It has energy emitting off of it. "Ever seen this?" Cloud asks.  
Link shook his head. "Not exactly... Things that come close are remains of Farore's power though..."

"Hmm...interesting. Well, I could show you what this does. Here." Cloud walks out and onto the patio, inviting Link over. He levitates the ball over his forearm as it is absorbed into his arm. Suddenly, he shoots his arm up, as a burst of fire shot into the sky. "We use these things to attack enemies in our world. They're called Materia." Cloud then somehow took the orb out of his arm, handing it to Link. "Want to try?"  
"... You sure it won't feel strange?" Link asks, still avoiding certain eye contact. Every time he almost looks at Cloud's eyes he quickly looks away and turns a little red.  
"It might at first, but..." Cloud gives Link a good look, it's evidant that he's avoiding eye contact. "You alright?"

Link clenches his left fist and manages to look at Cloud. "It's just... We fucked each other, I'm sure of it... And we're acting like it didn't happen!" Link quickly looks away but goes back to keeping eye contact. "It feels... Weird... And..." Link scratches the back of his head. "I was thinking that we could try a real relationship... Like... What else could possibly go wrong? I know this probably sounds absurd..." Link goes back to not looking at Cloud.

Cloud sighs, looking down. "You know..." He pauses. "We could give it a try. And... We'll go slow, right?" He looks up at the sky. "I mean, it's a little strange... But its normal, in a way."

Link looks at Cloud once more. "R-really?!" He said, now looking like a love-struck schoolgirl.

Cloud nods faintly. "Yeah. And, if we don't end up liking it, we can just say it up front and personal. Its trial and error. As long as you're fine with it..."

Link nods to agree to it and randomly hugs Cloud, then feeling a little too awkward to let go.

Cloud freezes in place, staring down at Link. Link is pretty short, compared to himself at least. But he didn't mind. He manages to hug Link back, but only a little. It felt strange to him, but he figures he'll get used to it.

* * *

Link felt a little calmer after the hug, now letting go of Cloud. "So, what should we do first? Nothing too extreme please, I still have a bit of a hangover."  
"I wasn't planning anything extreme, don't worry." Cloud assures Link. "We could... Go for a walk?"

Link nods. "Although, Termina is a small place... The only place I can think of for a walk is Great Bay... I can take us there quickly but we will have to swim to shore." Link offers.  
"Swim? I think that should be fine, as long as its not far." Cloud stretches his arms as he walks back into the room. He mounts his sword onto his back. "Ready when you are."

Link put his cap on as he hadn't before and got his sword and shield ready, then pulling out his Ocarina and links arms with Cloud again. He plays the Song of Soaring once more. Wrings wrap around them and they arrive on a base-like metal structure and it's only a minute swim from the shore.

"We're here!" Link is quick to dive in the water, his swimming style is the breaststroke.  
Cloud looks around at the scenery. It's a little bit sunnier then he is used to, but he seems to be enjoying it. With that said, Cloud jumps in the water, holding on to the handle of his sword as he swims.

Link got to the shore first and shakes himself dry, then taking his cap off and squeezing it dry of any water then putting it back on, watching Cloud come up.  
Cloud got up and out the water, shaking his head to get some of it out of his hair. "That was refreshing." He comments.  
"And your hair is still spiky... Is it indestructible?" Link asks, laughing a little.  
Cloud shakes his head, obviously, smirking a little. "I get asked that a lot. I'm honestly not sure, but its natural." He looks at Link, noticing his ears as they stand out from the wet hair. "But I haven't seen such a species with pointy ears like yours."

"Huh?" Link holds his ear for a bit. "I'd imagine you have... But I may as well explain. Let's walk." Link lets go of his ear and begins walking next to Cloud.

"I don't know why we have pointy ears, but people say it's so we hear better... It's not a trait exclusive to us Hylians either, the Kokiri - similar to Hylians but never physically age - have pointy ears too... Oh, Hylians are basically humans for this world." Link explains.  
Cloud nods. "Makes sense. It must be some sort of evolutionary trait." He kept walking with Link. "Its interesting to talk about what we know and dont know about each other."  
Link nods in response. "I have heard that these creatures called elves have pointy ears... I don't exactly know what they are but I often get called an Elf by people from other worlds." Link adds to the conversation.  
Cloud couldn't help but laugh. "You certainly seemed like one when we first met. Back home, we treat elves as a thing of fantasy. They don't exist."  
"I heard they exist in other worlds..." Link replies. "Oh, this will sound weird but if you wanna touch my ear you can..."

Cloud hesitates for a moment, then gently running his fingers across Link's ears. "I wonder what its like to have pointy ears." He adds, pinching the end of it gently to tease Link.  
Link's cheeks turn a little pink and his ears twitched every time Cloud touches the tip of them, but he couldn't help but giggle a little about it.

Cloud pulls his hand away. "Sorry, I just..." He looks at Link, seeing an evident blush on his face. "Wow, you are sensitive."  
"H-huh?" Link looked at Cloud, a little flustered.  
Cloud shakes his head. "... Never mind. I don't want to get you worked up."  
"I-It's fine, I just get embarrassed a little easily..." Link replies. "Oh, we're approaching Zora cape! They're a unique breed of fish people... I wonder if the band is gonna play today..."

Cloud seems confused, but he went with it anyways. "Fish? Band? Sounds interesting."  
Link looks a little excited, he grabs Cloud's hand and run towards the concert hall, it looks like a building made entirely of huge shells.

Cloud stumbles forward, but keeps his balence as he enters the building. It was giant, and it looked busy. Cloud felt out of place once more. "Is this an auditorium?"  
"Concert hall." Link replies. "And it looks like the band is getting ready for something. Even if it's just a practise, I think it would be nice to listen to some-Gya!" Link is pinned down by several small Zoras, they all seem to know him since they keep chanting his name.  
Cloud gasps sharply and steps back, grabbing the handle of his sword out of reflex. But, everything seems to be fine. "Is...this normal?"

Link manages to stand up and laughs. "Yeah, I helped raise these kids when I had free time. I felt bad for them since their father died, and I knew him." Link says, blushing a little.  
"Uncle Link! Mommy is gonna sing a new song! You should listen! Oh, who's this?" The young Zora's look at Cloud.  
"This is Cloud, he's..." Link is a little unsure of what title to call Cloud, since they're trying for a relationship but don't really seem like it.

"I'm his aquaintence." Cloud answers for him, winking at Link. He looks down at the child that was playfully tugging at his half skirt. "I deal with this all the time back home, don't worry about it." Cloud assures Link, as the other Zora children started to play with Cloud.  
"Your hair looks funny!" One of them says.

The lights dim a little bit. "Oh, you guys take a seat and listen to Mommy!" They pull Cloud and Link into seats. The Zora band start up a relaxing beat and the singer - the mother of the young Zoras - starts singing along.

Halfway through the song, Link yawns. "This song... So relaxing and beautiful..." He comments, then resting his head on Cloud's shoulder.  
Cloud listens to the gentle music. "I'm enjoying this." He spoke softly, looking at Link. He seemed so loving, Cloud found it a little strange, but he told himself he'd learn to like it.

Once the song ended, Link was asleep and the young Zoras ran to their mother. A few seconds later and the mother walks up to Cloud and Link.

"You're Cloud, correct? I'm Lulu, friend of Link." She introduces herself, then giggling a little. "Link has always enjoyed his sleep... It's easy for him to sleep anywhere actually. And he can go out like a candle."  
Cloud nods in response to her question, trying not to move to much so he wouldn't wake Link. "Yeah, I can tell. By the way...the singing was beautiful, I appreciate it."  
"Thanks, I love hearing feedback. And don't worry about waking Link, he's a real deep sleeper." Lulu replies. "You gonna take him home now?"  
Cloud hesitates for a moment. "Y-Yeah. I'll probably just drop him off and be on my way." Cloud replies, standing up and shaking Link's head. "Hey, nap time is over."

Link doesn't flinch, he's now snoring. Lulu giggles. "How about carrying him? You look strong enough."  
"That was my second option." Cloud grunts softly, picking up the boy with ease and propping him on his back. "He drank lots of... Milk, last night. Forgot the name of it, but it was strong. I guess sleep is the best for him right now." Cloud began walking to the exit, waving back at Lulu. "I see you later."

"Okay then, bye!" Lulu waved back.

* * *

Link didn't wake up until they were back on the point of the beach where they had started walking.

"Hnnngg... Morning... Huh?" Link looks around, blushing when he saw that Cloud was carrying him.  
"Oh, you're awake. I was just about to splash water on your face." Cloud chuckled a little, putting Link back on his feet.

"Ehe... Sorry about that. I fall asleep easily... Oh, we're you taking me somewhere? The only way out of here is jumping the fence over there." Link points to the exit of the beach.

Cloud nods in response to the question. "Thanks for telling me." They both walk to the fence, where Cloud then stands back a bit from it. "Watch this..." He jumped into the air, doing a double front flip and landing on his feet on the other side of the fence, perfectly fine.

Link looks amazed. "Woah... That was cool! All I can do is a backflip..." Link runs backwards and backflips but ends up crashing into Cloud. "Sorry!"

Cloud grunts softly, getting up and helping Link. He brushes off his clothing. "Don't worry about it. I learned some techniques at home, I was part of a government run army. Or at least I thought I was...long story..."  
"Sounds interesting... Care to tell me a bit about it on the way back?" Link asks, getting up himself.  
"I guess so..." Cloud began, walking with Link.

"Back home, there's this organization called SOLDIER. I joined, and met a hero. He taught me how to do everything. Now... I never forget what he taught me. We were true friends." Cloud starts.  
"...I assume something happened to that." Link guesses.  
Cloud looks down for a second, then nods. "Yeah. But we both know what I'm capable of... That's why I carry on his legacy."  
"That sounds great! I wish I could do that... I must admit I don't have many friends, mostly acquaintances and enemies..." Link replies, shuffling a little closer to Cloud. "And I must also admit, I'm not even great friends with the Zelda of my timeline..." Link bows his head and folds his arms, now a little upset about it. "And my other friends don't recognise me like this..." Link sighs. "My current best friend is a horse."  
Cloud shrugs, then looking at Link. "Hey, well its better then having no friends at all, right? I'm your friend too."  
Link blushes a little and nods. "I guess I'm too busy exploring the lands to stay in one place for too long, which prevents me from making strong connections for the most part."

Link looks ahead. "Ah, we're almost back. I think we should be in time for lunch."  
Cloud looks ahead as well. "Sounds good. And, I understand. The only reason why I have friends, is because of what happened back home. But that's a story for another time."  
"Yeah, can't wait to hear it!" Link enters Clock Town followed by Cloud, Link then stops and thinks about something.

"Hmm... I think I may know a way to get to your world from here..."  
"Really? That would be interesting. I have no form of transportation as of now." Cloud responds.

Link pulls out his Ocarina. "The song I have been playing is a form of fast travel. I haven't tried it outside of Termina but if you have main... 'Save points' in your world and focus on one of them in your mind, we could be almost immediately warp there..." Link looks up at Cloud. "Want to try?"

Cloud looks down at the Ocarina. "I've never heard of such things, but I'll give it a try. How does the tune go?"  
Link can't help but smile. "I'll teach you. Being the teacher is a first for me."

Link starts playing the Ocarina very slowly, mainly so Cloud can watch how his fingers move about the Ocarina. After a few minutes of this, Link stops. "You ready to try?"

"Yeah, I think so." Cloud takes the Ocarina and positions it to his mouth, playing a few loose notes to start. Then, he plays the actual song. He didn't have the best tone while playing it, but he played all the right notes. Suddenly, a pair of wings folds around them, it seems to have surpassed Cloud.  
Link quickly clings onto Cloud and shuts his eyes, opening one about 20 seconds later, which was the time it took for them to arrive. "W... Where's this?"


	3. A whole new world, or a trip home

Cloud looks around, impressed. "This is my home. More specifically, Sector 7." The sky is dim and cloudy as usual, people roaming in the dirty streets. "It doesn't look like much, but there's a lot to find. Follow me."  
Link keeps close to Cloud and makes sure to follow him. He seems curious about this new world but he didn't want to get lost.

Cloud walks with Link, looking down at him. He seems worried about Link. "You scared?"  
Link shakes his head to respond. "I have the courage of a goddess! It's just... I've never seen a place like this."  
Cloud nods. "I understand. Midgar is dangerous, but I've grown used to it. Hmm..." He thinks for a moment. "You wanna see a chocobo?"  
Link nods. "Yeah! Can't wait to see what they look like!" He looks a little excited.

"You'll be surprised." Clouds says. They keep walking until they reach a bar, with a motorcycle parked next to it. Cloud presses a button, which made the front of the motorcycle open into 7 slots. He unsheathes his sword, separating different componants off of it and putting each smaller sword in the slots. Cloud closes the display and got on the bike, turning it on. "Hold on."  
Link looks at it for a moment in amazement and confusion. "Doesn't Mario ride these? Ugh, can't worry about that now..." Link sits himself on the Motorcycle and clings to Cloud since people do that when riding.

They go off on their short trip for about half an hour, until they reach a small farm with a stable, presumably filled with chocobos. Cloud parks his bike, helping Link get off. "We could either go in there and play with one, or tame one ourself. Your choice."  
"I'd like to see if I can tame one... You can ride them too right? Oh, you should see me on horseback!" Link replies, stopping himself before he can get anymore carried away.  
"Riding them is pretty easy. They don't buck or anything, unless you get them mad. Hold on... We need two things. Some food for them, and a Chocobo lure. Luckily I have one on me." Cloud grabs a shiny purple materia out of his pocket, walking into the farm to buy some food. "They always have vendors that sell them."  
"My horse Epona is actually rather feisty... She won't as much look at you unless you play her favourite song. Other animals seem to like it too." Link replies, keeping close to Cloud.

Cloud looks back at Link quickly. "Epona... That's a pretty name. And yeah, horses tend to be like that." They walk into the farm, and Cloud talks to the vendor. "Give me something good." He asks, as the lady then hands Cloud a bag of greens. "Thank you, come again!" The lady says, as Cloud hands her the right amount of money and walked out of the barn with Link. "Now... We have to walk into the feild and be quiet."  
"Oh, is that all? Not a problem!" Link gets on his tippy toes in preparation.

"Alright. Here, hold this." Cloud hands Link the purple materia. "Hold it in front of you. It'll glow brighter when a chocobo is nearby." He quickly explains, pulling a bunch of greens out of the bag he purchased.  
Link does as instructed and tiptoes forward. "This is a very strange method of finding animals..." Link whispers.  
Cloud shrugs a little. "I'm used to it." He looks at the materia, and freezes in place. "Don't move." He commands of Link, who does what is requested. Suddenly, Cloud is pushed to the ground by something. Cloud quickly turns on his back, staring face to face with a chocobo. It gives off a delicate chirp, pecking at Cloud's hand. It wants the food. "Someone's hungry..." He smirks, giving the bird a handfull if greens. It ate them happily.

Link quickly turns around and slowly approaches the Chocobo, then using his left hand to slowly reach out to it, hoping that it acts a little bit like a horse.  
The Chocobo twitches its head side to side, inspecting Link's hand. It pecks at it gently, giving another chirp. Cloud gets up slowly, giving some greens to Link. "It shouldn't hurt you."  
Link smiles and attempts to pet the chocobo.  
The chocobo squaks a bit, but calms down quickly as Cloud feeds it more greens. The bird is giant, it's a foot taller then Cloud, but it seems gentle. "You're good at this."  
"You think so?" Link laughs a little and quickly takes his Ocarina back from Cloud, then playing Epona's Song to see if the chocobo likes the tune.

The chocobo waddles to the side, moving his head back and forth every now and then. It seems to appreciate the tune. Curious, the Chocobo walks up to the Ocarina, nudging it slightly and chirping afterwards.  
"Oh, you like it?" Link stops playing, then smiling happily. "I'll play you another time then!" Link starts playing a different tune: Saria's Song, it was more upbeat and Link danced a little to the tune.  
The chocobo waddles side to side some more, twitching his head more frequently. It seems to enjoy this tune as well. Cloud looks impressed, as he listens to the pleasing tune.

Link eventually stops the tune and gently pets the chocobo.  
The animal purrs softly as Cloud starts scratching under its chin. "It seems calm now." He gives the chocobo some more greens and walks to its side, then getting on it carefully. Cloud pets its neck gently, looking down at Link. He holds out his hand. "Your turn."  
Link grabs Cloud's hand and gets pulled on, sitting behind Cloud. He clings onto Cloud once. "Ready when you are!"

Cloud gives a ready nod to Link, then kicking the chocobo's side gently in order to make it run, which it did suddenly. Cloud guides it left and right through the tall grass.  
"How fast can it go?" Link askes, curious, taking in the scenery despite it quickly zooming by.  
"I'll show you." Cloud taps his foot a little harder, telling the chocobo to go faster. It responds accordingly, running faster. Cloud makes it run around in a circle and all the way back to his bike.

"That was fast! I'm surprised my cap stayed on! Can we go again?" Link asks politely.  
Cloud nods. "Sure. You can control it to, if you want." He gets off the chocobo, only to get back on behind Link.

Link turns a little red. "I hope this controls like a horse... Yah!" Link manages to get the chocobo moving at a decent pace. "Oh, I wanna show you some thing I can do while riding!" Link then pulls out his bow while still in complete control of the Chocobo, he fires an arrow firmly into the ground, looking back at Cloud for a second and smiling, then quickly turning around and putting the bow away. "Do you want to do anything else to kill some time Cloud? If you don't have an idea I could always use the song of Double time."

"Well, I dont have much to show you. Its your choice." Cloud replies, looking at Link's Ocarina. "But... How does that Ocarina work? You just play a song, then something happens... It confuses me."  
Link slows down the choboco to a stop, not far from Clouds bike. "It's the Ocarina of Time... A magical ocarina, passed down the line of the royal family... But it's mine now, and I think I'm keeping it... Also I don't exactly know why it has powers, but it probably has something to do with the gods."

Cloud shrugs a little in response to the answer. "It seems right to me." He gets off the chocobo, helping Link get off as well. "There's not much to see here. I mean, theres an ammusement park... If you're interested."


	4. A peaceful way to end the day

"Amusement... Park? Don't think I've heard of one of those before..." Link says, looking a little embarrassed.

"Well, its basically what it sounds like. I can show you if you want... How about it?" Cloud offers.  
"Sounds interesting. A park that amuses you..." Link can't help but laugh a little. "Does it have a bunch of futuristic technology or something?"  
Cloud shrugs again, and nods a little. "A little. You might find it interesting." He threw the last of the greens at the ground for the chocobo, then got on his bike. "Its not too far from here."  
"Let's go then! See you later chocobo friend!" Link runs to Cloud's side while waving to the chocobo, getting on the bike.

The Chocobo seems to run away as Cloud revs the engine, driving towards his destination.

After a while, they reach an extremely tall golden tower. "This is called the Golden Saucer." Cloud explains as he gets off. They both walk to the entrance, and Cloud walks up to the reseptionist. "Two tickets."  
"Why is it called that? And why waste gold like this? You should see what gold can do when enchanted..." Link laughs a little after asking. "So, what goes on here?"  
Cloud smiles. "I doubt its made out of real gold, but I'm not sure myself." He walks with Link to the main hall, where there was several pathways. "There's a lot of activities to partake in. Most of them are games, but if you aren't interested in those...theres a gondola ride."

"Gondola..?" Link looks absolutely clueless, his facial expression is like one of a confused child.  
Cloud sighs, but still smiles. "Wow, you really don't know a lot about our world... Here, I'll show you." He walks some more with Link and goes to the door to the very left, entering it. On the other side, there seems to be a blue crate that seems quite comfortable on the inside. It's suspended by three large and thick cables. Cloud shows the tickets to the receptionist and leads Link to the crate. "I hope you aren't afraid of heights."  
Link shakes his head. "If I was afraid of heights, I wouldn't be fit to wield the Triforce of Courage..." Link then hops into the crate.

Cloud sits on the chair opposite of Link, as he hears the door buzz and close from the outside. Then, they were off. "My friends used to force me into this. I've learned to enjoy it."  
"Well... I may be the most courageous person I know, but I don't think that'll stop me from being a little worried by that statement..." Link comments, obviously feeling a little uneasy being in technology his brain can't comprehend at this point.  
"This must be completely new to you." Cloud leans back in his chair, resting his arm on the back of it. "If you feel uncomfortable...you can sit by me."

Link can't help but blush at the offer, so he moves a little closer to Cloud. "Um... When is this thing gonna... Do its thing?"  
Cloud looks at Link questionably, tilting his head a little. "You mean stop? That's all it really does. This crate will get higher. Once it does, we can get a good view of the Golden Saucer."

"That's it?" Link looks a little confused. "It doesn't drop down by the force of gravity or anything?"  
Cloud shakes his head. "Nope. You're thinking of rollercosters. This place doesn't have one."  
"What's a roller... Coaster?" Link looks puzzled. "Is that some sort of bungee-jump thing that's been modernised or something?" He asks, looking clueless.

Cloud smiles, laughing a little. "Not at all. It's basically a bunch of seats secured in a line that follow a track at highspeeds. You're obviously buckled down, and sometimes you go upside down. At least thats what I've heard."  
"That sounds kinda like a train... An anti-gravity train that only has the seats... Your world is rather strange to me..." Link comments.  
Cloud shrugs in response. "I'd say the same about yours. And..." He looks through his pocket, pulling out a blue materia. He gives it to Link. "You can keep it. This kind of materia won't harm anyone. Promise."

Link curiously looks at it. "What does it do?" Link sniffs it a bit. "Is it edible?"  
Cloud shakes his head, smirking a little. "No. Its used in combat, it's called a support materia. Basically, if you pair this one with another materia, you can make it stronger or hit farther. So without a leading materia, the one I just handed you is harmless."  
"Oh, thanks!" Link shoved it into what seemed like a small brown bag that was strapped to his belt, also likely still being confused on what the materia actually is.

Cloud observes Link's bag as he puts the materia in it. "How can you fit everything in there?"  
Link looks back at Cloud. "I... Don't know myself... Oh! Wanna see some of the stuff I keep in here later?" Link answers, then offers.  
"Sure. That would be interesting." Cloud then looks outside, hearing a loud boom, one after another. Then, sparks of light burst in the sky. Cloud looks back at Link. "Have you ever seen fireworks?"

"... Yeah, back in Termina I saw them at the festival one time... Why?" Link seems oblivious to what the booms mean.  
Cloud shrugs again. "Just curious." He stands up, watching the fireworks. "They usually have them at least once a week. We're lucky."  
Link then stands up with Cloud, and quickly becomes amazed by the size of the fireworks. "How do you get these so big?!" He asks, eyes twinkling.  
Cloud keeps watching the bright display. "I'm not too sure. Maybe they just add extra fuel, or something."

"It's just... I've never seen fireworks THIS big... They look really beautiful..." Link comments with a smile, now tempted to hold Cloud's hand as his own hand was getting a bit fidgety due to the excitement of seeing the fireworks.  
"They are." Cloud responds. He then notices the crate moving differently. "It seems we're heading down." He looks at Link, more specifically his hands. "You seem excited."

"Huh?" Link blushes a little with embarrassment. "It's not like me to get excited... But this is an entirely new world rather than a simple vast land beyond my front yard..."  
Cloud nods. "This world is more then what you think, trust me. I'm just showing you the small and safe parts."  
"There are places BIGGER than this?" Link looks amazed.

"Yeah. Remember when we were back at Sector 7 in Midgar? There's 8 sectors in total. Each one holds thousands of people, with each one have an upper and lower level. And thats just one city." Cloud explains.  
"I don't think the Land of Hyrule or Termina could even DREAM about that yet! There are only a few towns for Hylians and the rest of it is free territory to whatever race likes it the best." Link comments. "Oh! Should we go meet your friends, if possible?" Link asks.

* * *

Cloud stares at the ground for a moment. "Friends... How about I show you something else." He asks as the crate finally lands, and Cloud walks outside with Link. They exit the tower after a few moments as Cloud gets on his bike. "Mind if I take you somewhere?"  
"Uh, okay... Don't tell me where!" Link hops on the bike as well, clinging onto Cloud.

Cloud then revs the engine and drives off, back to Midgar. After about 20 minutes, Cloud carefully drives to what seemed like an abandoned church. He parks his bike and waits for Link to follow him, then entering the building. Windows are broken and pillars look half destroyed. All that's left is a small pool of water, with a giant sword stuck in the middle of a broken pillar. Flowers surround it as well. "This might not seem like much, but..." Cloud trails off.

"What is this? It... It kinda reminds me of the time I pulled the Master Sword." Link comments, finding the place rather nostalgic.  
Cloud slowly walks up to the pool of water, where the buster sword is mounted behind it. "This is the place... Where a hero decided to fight for a good reason. To carry on a friend's legacy."

"..." Link is left speechless, simply soaking the area into his mind.

"I wish I could have been more than the hero of fate... A hero of my own choice would have been nicer... Stuff like prophecy wouldn't pressure me into saving the day, I'd just do it because I felt it was the right thing." Link admits, feeling touched to an extent by Cloud's words.  
"Everyone's goal is chosen by fate, even mine. And most of the time, we can't stop it. Unless you try..." Cloud responds, then looking at Link. "You seem like that person."

Link turns to look at Cloud. "What do you mean?" He asks. "My bloodline has no choice but to save the world in it's time of need... My ancestor beat a deity and with the dying breath of said deity, it placed a curse, forcing history to repeat..." Link droops his head and folds his arms. "And even though I really don't mind doing good for my world, it's sometimes just... Why must it all depend on me?" Link's eyes are getting rather watery, it isn't like him to cry. It's just the first time in ever that he could really think about what he was doing...

Cloud keeps looking at Link, but now looking closely. "You alright?" He started feeling a little uncomfortable since Link looked on the verge of crying. "Hey, consider yourself a hero of your own merit if you're the one taking care of your planet. I did that once... With some help. If you ever need help with anything... Just ask me. I usually only do it for the money, but... We're friends now. So don't worry about that." He places his hand on Link's shoulder. "Please." He adds, not wanting Link to cry.

Link then looks back at Cloud, wiping his eyes dry then giving in and giving Cloud a hug. "Thank you, for the offer..."  
Cloud stares down at Link, putting his hands to the side. He was... Sort of used to hugging. Well, Aerith would hug him all the time. But he isn't really the type to normally hug anyone back so Cloud just let Link hug him this time. He just wanted the best for the smaller fighter.

After a while, Link calmed down a lot.  
"Thank you..." Link yawns, rubbing his eyes. He seems to be getting sleepy... Or rather, he wants to sleep, even though it was only early into the night and they hadn't even had dinner yet.

Cloud looks down at Link once more. "Tired? There's a hotel not too far from here. Or we could just sleep here. That's what I used to do."  
Link yawns once more, casually letting go of Cloud then sliding down to the ground and falling asleep quicker than you could say 'Hey, Listen.'

"How did he..? Wow, that looks uncomfortable." Cloud thinks out-loud. He decides to pick up Link and lean his body against the wall. Cloud decides to do himself a favor and sit beside Link, resting his elbows against his knees. "Get a good rest." He tells the sleeping Link.

In his sleep, Link leans against Cloud a little, and starts snoring quietly.

Cloud looks at Link, getting tired himself. "And I thought I looked innocent..." Shaking his head and laughing softly, he soon drifts off to sleep.


	5. New pain, no gain

The next day...  
Cloud and Link are still fast asleep. Cloud seems to have slumped to the ground, snoring softly. Link had also shifted in his sleep: he was now lying on top of Cloud.

Link is the first to wake up of the two, he's quick to sit up and stretch. Then he lightly starts shaking Cloud. "Rise and shine..." He yawns.  
"M-Mother...?" Cloud groans, slowly opening his eyes to adjust to the light. He looks at Link once his visions clears and back at the ground, embarrassed. "S-Sorry, I just..."  
"It's fine, Cloud..." Link responds, secretly feeling somewhat jealous that Cloud got to call someone mother a time ago, when he was technically an orphan that was raised by a tree.

Cloud groans again, sitting up. His head didn't seem to hurt as much compared to the other day. "How are you feeling?" He asks, looking at Link.  
"Fine, a lot better than yesterday morning too... Oh, and yes I did have a good sleep." Link answers, readjusting his cap, his hair is a mess.  
"So did I." Cloud stretches his arms and yawns softly. "I miss coming back here. Its good to visit once in a while."

"I'd imagine it is... I also really like the look of this place." Link comments before standing up. "Where to today?" Link asks. "Oh, don't you have this friend that owns a bar? I think you mentioned that while we were getting wasted." Link laughs a little.  
"I did? Well, at least I wasnt lying. We could meet her for a bit, but she's probably working." Cloud explains.  
"I'd like to meet her, it's always nice to meet new people... What's her name?" Link asks.

Cloud walks with Link out of the church before answering. "Tifa. I usually help her out with deliveries. That's my job nowadays. As long as it pays, I'm fine with it." He answers.  
"All I need to do is cut the grass and I'm set for a week!" Link laughs. "So, shall we go?"

Cloud nods, walking with Link towards the bike. He gets on as Link sits behind him. "Its not too far from here, only about 5 minutes." He turns on his motorcycle and they drive off.  
Link looks like he's having fun just by having the wind blow in his face. He took off his cap to let the wind run through his hair, but by the time they stopped his hair was messier than before.

Cloud parks his bike and looks at Link, smirking. "I would've left your hat on during the ride." He laughs, playing with Link's hair for a breif moment before walking to the bar entrance.  
Link holds his hair for a bit while blushing, then he quickly puts his cap on and follows Cloud into the bar, running after him.

* * *

Cloud opens the door to the bar, looking around. Tifa is seen wiping tables, until she spots Cloud. "Cloud!" She runs up him. "I was getting worried. You really need a new cellphone." Tifa suggests.  
Cloud sighs in response. "I know... Just thought I'd say hello." The girl looks at Link, curious. "And who's this?"

Link bows to greet Tifa. "My name is Link, you must be Tifa... Nice to meet you!" Link says in a gentlemen-like manor.  
Tifa smiles, then walks back to the bar counter. "You boys need anything to drink?" Cloud shook his head. "I'll be fine, I had a hangover a few days ago anyways." He admitted.  
"Me too actually... D-don't ask..." Link goes all embarrassed, clutching his hand together and twisting his foot in the ground.

"Alright then..." Tifa says, looking a little confused.  
Cloud looks at the desk to the other side of the room. "No packages..."  
"Yeah, you delivered most of them before you left. There was little for me to do, really." Tifa explains.

Link can't seem to find anything to say or ask Tifa. He has ideas on what to say but nothing would come out of his mouth, so he just quietly stood there and looked lost in thought.

"Thats good." Cloud responds, turning to the door. "I'll see you later then, I'm a bit busy." He goes to walk out the door, waving a little to Tifa.  
"See you!" The she responds.

Cloud looks back at Link. "I didn't have anything else to talk about. No point in just standing there."  
"!" Link jumps in his boots, looking like he just snapped back to reality. "I-... Sorry..."

Cloud shook his head, as to say 'don't apologise'. "I don't blame you. I'm not good at introducing friends to other people. Didnt mean to hurt your feelings."  
"You didn't... Normally the people introduce themselves to me and I... I'm not used to this..." Link replies, shuffling closer to Cloud.

Cloud sighs, walking to his bike. "I wish I could say that I understand, but I don't." He gets on his bike, turning it on. "What else do you want to do? Your choice."  
"It's still early morning... How about we go see that chocobo again?" Link offers. "And it might come if I play Epona's Song!"

Cloud shrugs, not seeming to mind. "Whatever you want, sounds good to me." He revs the engine and then drives off to the Chocobo Farm. About halfway there, the motorcycle starts making a strange puttering sound. Link seems slightly worried about this, but Cloud just sighs. He gets off to check the gauge moniter and turns off the bike. "Out of gas. We won't make it there in time."

Link then gets out gloves plated with gold and puts them on, slamming his fists together. "With these babies, I can carry both you and your bike with ease!" Link comments, getting of the bike, then also getting out a headband with bunny ears. "And this bunny hood here doubles my speed!"

Cloud stares at Link, dumbfounded. "You're serious this will work? I never heard of such an idea."

"Just stay seated on the bike... And hold on." Link laughs a little, then quickly lifting the bike above his head, showing no weakness. He sprints off towards their destination, going almost as fast as the bike.  
Cloud holds on tightly. _"This is impossible..."_ He thinks out-loud quietly, still quite confused.

They soon arrive at the farm, Cloud jumps off the bike while it is still being held by Link. "I don't understand how wearing a hat and some gloves can alter your abilities." He comments.  
Link chuckles a little, then putting the bike down. "Well, I have a few masks that were made from spirits that granted me their powers... It's likely these other masks were made in a similar fashion..." Link answers. "And these Golden Gauntlets are probably blessed with some kind of magic to make you stronger..." He adds, then putting both away in his small bag.

"Magic put into inadimate objects to give them special abilities or powers...seems like something out of fiction, but you just proved me wrong." Cloud says, letting out a soft chuckle.  
"Well, no two worlds have exactly the same rules... You should see Mario's... Flying turtles and mushrooms with propellers on them... At least that's what he's told me." Link can't help but let out a chuckle.  
Cloud rolls his eyes, smirking. "Now that just seems obscure." He looks at the landscape in front of him. "How are we supposed to get back after this?"  
"I can do the same thing, it's not like I'll get exhausted." Link replies, then running out into the field.

"Alright... I hope it responds to this..." Link got out his Ocarina and played Epona's Song again.  
"If you're really sure..." Cloud responds to his first statement, then listening to the tune. After waiting about 30 seconds, nothing shows up. "Maybe try playing it again?" Cloud suggests.  
Link tries playing it again, as well as the other song he played to the chocobo.

Cloud keeps waiting, suddenly he feels a sharp pain in his head. He turns around, looking at the chocobo before him straight in the face. A few strands of yellow hair are caught in its beak. Cloud sighs, petting it on the head. The bird chirps playfully and walked over to Link, nudging him.  
"Hey buddy!" Link smiles, petting the Chocobo all over.

"Oh, we should give you a name! Uh... Cloud, can you tell the gender of Chocobos?" Link asks.  
Cloud scratches the back of his head. "You can, but... I'm sure you understand what we would have to do."

Link gulps, then looking under the Chocobo. "All I see is feathers..." He says, confused. "You know the anatomy of these birds right?"  
Cloud shrugs. "Well, not exactly. I never said I was an expert, I'm just going with what I know really." He scratches the Chocobo's neck. "It is bigger than the ones I've seen, maybe its a boy."

"Oh, so is that it?" Link asks, pointing to it's privates, having thought it was a loose feather.  
The chocobo squawks, turning around to look at Link. It lowera its head, pushing him to the ground. Cloud laughs softly. "I think its getting uncomfortable."  
"Ah! Sorry!" Link apologises, getting up. "Well that makes it easier to give you a name..."

Cloud walks over to Link. "I certainly can't think of one. What do you have in mind?"  
Link scratches the back of his head and laughs a little. "I don't have anything either... Well, anything good..."  
Cloud shrugs, thinking for a moment. "The first time we met it, it sneaked up behind us. I thought Theif was a good name, since it took some of my hair as well. Unless it sounds too juvenile."

"How about we name it after a thief? Do you know any? I think I've heard of a few but I'm drawing blanks..." Link suggests, starting to think.  
Cloud shakes his head. "No thiefs that I know of."  
"Oh... What was that guy that kept stealing the toads called...? Mario suggested a name for him..." Link then shakes his head, unable to remember. "It not that then... Uh, how about Gerudo? It's a race of people back in my home... Those sly gals can kidnap and steal anything under your noses."

"Gerudo...I like that..." Cloud looks at Link, nodding afterwards. "Seems like a good name to me."  
"Gerudo it is!" Link gives a light hug to the newly named Gerudo. "Shall we go on a ride?"  
Cloud nods. "Sure. Maybe we could take it to a nearby town so I can buy some fuel. How about that?"  
Link nods back. "Yeah! Let's hop on!" Link waits for Cloud to hop on first.

Before Cloud got on the chocobo, he grabs the parts of his sword from his bike and reconstructs it, just in case. "You never know what could happen." He says, getting on Gerudo.  
"Yeah, I'm always armed and ready." Link comments as he looks over his shoulder to make sure his sword is still there, which it is, then getting on after him.  
Cloud nods then taps Gerudo on the side and it takes off to the nearest town. Link holds onto Cloud by the waist, and Cloud seems to find it to be quite comfortable.

"Oh, you know how we are going to get fuel? Uh... What type of fuel? Coal?" Link asks out of the blue, not knowing what motorbikes run on because technology.  
"Its just gas. You'll see what it looks like when we get there. I'm sure they have some bucket I could use." Cloud explains quickly, suddenly hearing a shot in the air. The sudden noise seems to startle Gerudo as well, he starts squaking and running out of control. Cloud manages to stop the chocobo, jumping off it quickly. "This isnt good..." He pulled out his sword, seeing another motorcycle in the distance.  
Link hops off as well, not too worried about Gerudo if he decides to stay put. "We are going to where the sound came from... Aren't we?"

"Yeah...They're probably smugglers shooting us, or something." Cloud looks at Link. "Its either we run at the foe while on Gerudo and risk loosing him, or we run at him ourselves."  
"Let's charge at him ourselves." Link replies, preferring to keep their animal friend out of harm's way.

Cloud nods, looking forward. "He's driving towards us." Cloud begins to run towards the motorcycle, and the rider seems absolutely insane. Once the motorcycle gets close enough, Cloud jumps in the air and spins around, landing his sword right on the attacker.

But the attack gets blocked. Cloud grunts as the vehicle comes to a stop, blocking another attack. _"He has a gunblade..."_ He talks to himself. "Watch out!"

Link charges toward the attacker with this shield up, blocking most shots fired at him. But when Link has to pull back to attack, he gets cleanly shot in the gut, stopping in place. Then he falls to his knees and blacks out, falling to the ground. A pool of blood starts forming from under him.


	6. Please be alright

Cloud jerks back in response, staring at Link. Shaking his head, he fights off the attacker the best he could, eventually stabbing him in the chest and throwing him to the side. Sheathing his sword, he kneels down before Link, gritting his teeth. "D-Dammit...I should've known..."

Link was very much unconscious, but far from dead... For now. He was still breathing but barely and it felt off rhythm.

Cloud stands up, carefully picking up then putting Link onto Gerudo, and taking the gunblade from the attacker. He sits behind Link, but still controlls the chocobo as they ride off to the town. _"A phoenix down should heal him..."_ Cloud thinks to himself.

* * *

Link manages to force himself to wake up, but his eyes can only barely open. He looks up at Cloud.  
"C...loud... What... H...appened?" He asks quietly, then coughing, looking like he's in some serious pain, especially because he's never been shot before.

Cloud avoids eye contact with Link to focus on what's in front of him. "I'll tell you later... Talking will waste your energy." He reminds Link, then making it to the town. He stops the chocobo behind a tree, with Link still on him. "Hang in there..." Cloud mutters with a worried tone, as he quickly goes into to a nearby shop.

Link starts crying out of pain, the bullet he was shot with is still stuck in his gut. "This hurts more than fire... Burning me all over... P...lease hurry Cloud..." He squeezes his eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears

Cloud is quick to exit out of the shop, holding some bandages and a strange colored feather. He gently takes Link off of Gerudo, placing him on the ground. Hesitating, he lifts Link's shirt up halfway, looking at the wound. The hole made with the bullet wasn't too big but still looked very messy, blood was pouring out and bullet was still inside his body. Gritting his teeth at the sight, Cloud readies his hand. "This will hurt..."

Link looks up at Cloud, his face wet with the tears of pain. He grabs onto Cloud's free arm since he was a little scared on what this might do to him, since it's things he's never even heard of before.. "Just... Get it over with... Please..."

Cloud takes a deep breath, looking closely at the bullet inside Link's skin. He used his fingers to quickly pry the bullet out of Link's flesh, wiping off the blood afterwards. When the bullet gets pulled, Link lets out a loud yelp but then seemed relieved. "Thank you Cloud..." He sighs with relief.

Cloud then grabs the Phoenix Down and hovers it over Link's body. It materialises into glowing dust, landing on Link's skin... And hopefully taking away the pain. "Almost done..." Cloud sighs, undoing the bandages and wrapping them around Link's waist. Cloud urges Link to lift his body up, so he could properly wrap them. "That should be good..."

The bandages now wrapped around tight enough, Link suddenly hugs Cloud. "I... I honestly can't thank you enough for this..."  
Cloud shakes his head, sighing again. "I just... Didn't want to see another friend die in my arms..." He admits. "It was my fault."  
"Don't say that... I... I should have listened to your warning... I just rushed at the enemy without knowing how he attacked..." Link said. "I should be apologising." He adds. "The last thing I want to do is upset you from something like this..."

Cloud pauses, looking down at Link. "Which is why I should of told you twice. Lets go." He helps Link stand up carefully. "The last thing I would be is mad at you. I'm going to buy some fuel, you stay here."  
"Alright... I'll stay here." Link listens, not wanting to get hurt again as to not put any more stress on Cloud.

* * *

Some minutes later, Cloud walks out of a small building with a can of strange liquid. He walks up to Link. "This is what we use for fuel. Mind carrying it while we ride home?"  
"Sure." Link said with a smile, picking it up with ease without using the gauntlets. "Let's go then!"  
"Thanks." Cloud replies, getting on the Chocobo and helping Link up. "I even bought some treats for Gerudo. Good on him for being so patiant." Cloud feeds Gerudo some treats and the bird ate them happily. With no time to spare, the go off back to Cloud's motorbike.

"So, where does this fuel go?" Link asks, looking all over the Motorcycle.  
Cloud walks to the right side of his motorcycle and unplugging an opening. "Right here." He says, then starting to pour the gas in

Link observes, both amazed and confused. This time also gave him a chance to have a good look of Cloud; his attire is completely black which seems like an odd choice to Link, since black is the lack of colour. But then he saw something that stood out, something shiny that wasn't a simple belt buckle. "Uh, what's that shiny thing on your shoulder pad?" Link asks.  
Cloud looks at his pendant quickly, then keeps filling his bike. "Its... A symbol of trust. A Fenrir. It may look like a wolf when staring at it from far away, but it isn't." He explains.

Once the can was empty, Cloud puts it on the ground, tapping the hood of his motorcycle. "Its also the name of this."  
"Sounds like it means a lot..." Link says. "Closest thing I have to a symbol of trust or of anything is a fairy ocarina I got from my childhood friend Saria..." He adds. "So, where are we headed now?"  
"It does mean a lot... Although to me it's more of a symbol to remember my past, not so much trust. Its a symbol to remind me of what I fight for...and what I've lost." Cloud admits, getting on his bike. "May as well get back home to the church, nowhere else to go."  
Link gets back on Gerudo. "I'll ride along side you then, lead the way!" Link says, ready to go.

Cloud nods, turning on his bike and reving the engine. "Good to hear that again. We'll have to take some sort of secret path if we want to take Gerudo home. Midgar and chocobos don't mix." He says. Gerudo seems to be startled by the bike suddenly revving up, but Link calms him down quickly. With that said, Cloud rides off towards their destination.


	7. Romantic actions of a fairy boy

"Onward!" Link calls out, causing Gerudo to follow Cloud, quickly catching up with him, making sure to follow him closely.

* * *

About half an hour later, Cloud makes it to the normal path of the abandoned church, he took a 'shortcut' along the way. It went behind the church and took a little longer. Cloud parks his bike outside the church.  
Link stops right next to the bike and gets of Gerudo, then petting him. "So we're stopping here again are we? Oh, mind if I change? As you can see my tunic is soaked in my blood... And I have a spare tunic to wear anyway." Link asks, adding some explanation.  
Cloud nods. "Go ahead. I'd do the same if I were you."

Link smiles and takes off his belts and cap before taking the tunic off. He appears surprisingly muscular with a noteable 6-pack, but it isn't a thing too amazing. The bandages are already pretty bloody. "Oh, should these bandages be changed?" Link asks Cloud, folding his tunic.

Cloud stares at Link while he wasn't looking, thankfully. He seems dazed for a moment, admiring Link's body before shaking his head. "Y-Yeah, change them before you get infected." Cloud threw some more bandages to Link.

Link takes his current bandages off and starts wrapping it around himself, but not finding it tight enough. "Uh Cloud, can you help me out a but with this?" He asks, a little embarrassed to do so.  
Cloud looks at Link, hesitating for a moment. "Yeah, sure." He walks over to Link and holds the bandages around his waist, making sure they were tight, but not too much. He notices Link tense up slightly, showing Cloud a bit more of his muscular form. He sighs dreamily, testing the bandages as he tied them off. "Hows this?"  
"Just right, thanks Cloud!" Link smiles, then pulling out a red tunic with matching cap, putting both on. He then holds out his green cap to Cloud. "Wanna wear it for a bit?" He asks Cloud.

Cloud looks at Link questionably, shrugging afterwards. "I guess I could..." He takes Link's cap and wears it over his own head. "This feels strange... I don't normally wear hats."  
Link laughs a little. "I think you look kinda cute wearing that."  
"I never would of thought..." Cloud says, looking off to the side and turning a little rosy. He takes the cap off, giving it back to Link. "It's not really my thing."  
"Aw, that's a shame, but I understand." Link replies, putting his cap back in his inventory.

"Thanks." Cloud responds, still looking off to the side. _"What should I do..."_ He thinks to himself, shaking his head. "I just..." Cloud sighs, lost in his thoughts.  
"You ok Cloud?" Link asks, now a little worried about him.  
"Y-Yeah, just..." Cloud stops mid-scentence, finally looking at Link.

Hesitating for a second, he leans in and kisses Link lightly on the lips, slowly pulling away afterwards. "...Thinking of someone." Cloud finished.

Link gently touches his lips and his cheeks turn as red as his tunic. To respond to that, Link pulls Cloud in and gives another kiss, it lasted longer than the one Cloud gave.

* * *

"S-sorry if that uh... Irk... I'm not good at this romance stuff..." Link says once he stops kissing Cloud, his ears twitch a little due to being unsure of what to say.  
Cloud smiles softly. "Don't worry... I enjoyed it." He stands up straight again, looking down at Link. "That was out of nowhere, anyways..."  
Despite his blushing, Link puts on a big smile. "Oh, we should eat something. The last thing we ate was breakfast yesterday... Know any places around here?"

Cloud shakes his head. "There were some nice restaurants here, but they either got destroyed or run out of business from a catastrophe that happened about a month ago."  
"Yikes... That doesn't sound good... Wait! Do I still have...?" Link rummages through his inventory, then pulling out a bottle with some soup in it. "Toon gave this to me. It's some of his favourite soup and there is enough for two servings..."  
"Looks pretty good..." Cloud looks at Link. "You can have the first serving."

"Ok then." Link drinks straight from the bottle and looks as if he got some energy back once done, the second serving still remains in the bottle. Link then holds out the bottle towards Cloud. "Your serve."  
Cloud takes the bottle and examines it, drinking the liquid after. It's savory with a hint of sweetness. It also tastes like pumpkin. Cloud hands the bottle back to Link, satisfied. "Tastes good."  
"Anything sweet old ladies make taste good." Link says, laughing a little, then stretching.

"Anything else we should do before we hit the hay?" Link asks.  
Cloud shrugs. "I'm not sure...I mean, there's not much to do here, really."  
"Oh, I know where we can go!" Link says, pulling out his Ocarina once more. "Since I've been talking about Toon so much... How about you meet him?"

Cloud nods. "You were thinking of introducing me to him? Not a bad idea..."  
Link nods back. "Yeah! Uh, you ready? We're going there via tornado, just a warning."

"Tornado? Sounds interesting." Cloud pulled a sharp weapon out of one of the sheaths on his back, handing it to Link by the handle. "This is the gunblade that shot you. I suggest keeping it, if we're going to keep visiting here."  
"Ah, thanks... Feels a little weird using the weapon that almost killed me though." Link replies, laughing nervously then putting it in his inventory. "Now hold on."

Link plays another tune, but this one obviously isn't made for the Ocarina. Once done, a tornado lifts the two up and everything they can see turns grey - just grey - for a while.

* * *

They are then spat out and land on a beach with a small port nearby and grassy as well as rocky terrain with spread out houses behind them.

"Big brother! Some people fell from the sky again!" A young girl calls out, then running off.

Link gets up and dusts the sand off himself. "Welcome to Outset Island."


	8. A trip through Wind Waker

Cloud dusts himself off as well. Looking around, the area seemed very quaint. He looks at the girl as she runs off. "Its strange to be this tall in comparison to them."

A young boy dressed similarly to Link then walks out of the nearby house, looking surprised then running towards the two at a high speed, hug-tackling Link once he gets close enough. "Time!" The boy says, sounding really happy.  
Link ruffles the boy's hair, pushing himself up off the ground again. "Glad to see you too Toon." He says, then looking up at Cloud, Toon looks up as well. "Huh? Who are you mister?" He asks, sounding like a clueless child, but he is 12 and clueless...

Cloud looks down at Toon. "Cloud. Good to meet you in person." He says, finding it right to crouch down for the smaller one.  
"Ah, did Time tell you about me?" Toon asks, 'Time' obviously referring to Link. Toon also quickly observes Cloud. "And why are you wearing only black?"  
Link can't help but chuckle at the questions Toon is asking Cloud.

Cloud shows no emotion. "It's to... Blend in. It obviously wouldn't be effective in a bright place like this, but its ideal back home." He explains to the smaller Link.  
"So is it like... Always night time and gloomy where you come from? That's kinda like the fortress I rescued my sister from... Oh, you wanna go sailing?" Toon spits out. He seems rather expressive to, his face changing every few seconds.  
 _"He's has quite the personality, I'll say that for sure..."_ Cloud whispers to himself, shrugging. "I don't think I've been sailing before."

"Whaaaat?! You haven't been sailing?! It's so fun! The wind in your hair and the smell of the sea... It's amazing..." Toon replies, now looking dreamy.  
Link laughs. "Yeah, he's the most expressive one out of all of us." He says in response to Cloud, obviously having heard him,  
"My boat isn't too big but you should be able to fit! Come!" Toon starts tugging on Cloud's arm, trying to take him to the dock.  
Cloud smiles softly, shrugging Toon's arm away and following him. He seems fast for a small kid, Cloud doesn't seem surprised. He looks to his side, seeing Link following his smaller self. "How... Old his he?"

"Last time I checked he was 12." Link answers.  
"I'm turning 13 in a few months!" Toon replies, hopping in the small boat and getting the sail ready.  
"Wow, I'm suprised. Thought he'd be older." Cloud says as he somehow fit in the small boat, with Link as well. The landscape ahead was nothing but endless ocean. "You know where you're going?"

"It'll be a while, but we're going to windfall!" Toon says, then setting the sail up once Link gets in. "Don't fall off now!"

Link laughs a little. "What makes you think that? I went on my first adventure when I was 9."  
"I was never allowed to do such things at that age. My mother was strict, I guess..." Cloud trails off, looking at the moving water outside the boat. It's moving at a slow pace, which Cloud enjoyed... But hated at the same time. He shakes his head and groans softly, feeling something uproar in his stomach. ' _Don't get sick... Not now...'_ Cloud tells himself, sighing.

"Well, Toon went out to save his sister which his Grandma allowed, and the Great Deku tree just told me to go find two other gems before he died, it feels like yesterday but it was over 10 years ago... And, none of us 'Links' don't really have much memory of our parents, if any at all..." Link replies, then looking at how Cloud doesn't look too good. "You ok Cloud?"

Cloud looks back at Link, nodding shyly afterwards. "I-I just..." He shakes his head, sighing again. _'I should of told him earlier... This is embarrassing...'_ Cloud thinks to himself. "... Motion sickness..." He finishes.  
"Ah, I'll switch the sails." Toon pulls down his current sail, and puts up another one. The design is similar but more simple and a different colour, the boat is moving slower now. "You can throw up overboard just not on the boat, okay?" Toon adds.  
Cloud nodds, scratching the back of his head. "I should be fine... Its happened before, usually on car rides..." Cloud trails off, thinking. _'Do they even know what cars are? Hm...'_ He asks himself, then shaking his head. "Never mind..."

"Cars... I think I've heard of those before, but we don't have them." Link replies. "Ah, I forgot to ask... How old are you? Toon has said his age and if you haven't guessed already, I'm 19..."  
Cloud shrugs. "I'm not surprised, you seem like your age. I'm 23."  
"You act a lot older, but you have probably been through a lot more trauma than me... So it's understandable." Link responds, then looking like he has an idea. "Oh, you know the Zora's right? How they're aquatic animals?"  
"Trauma is right..." Cloud thinks out loud, shaking his head. "Yeah. They're quite the species."

Link rummages through his bag then pulls out a mask which looks like a Zora's face. Then he stands on the edge of the boat. "Watch this..." Link backflips off the boat and puts the mask on mid-backflip, gracefully diving into the water. When he comes back up after a few seconds, he's been transformed into a Zora. "Don't freak out now, it's just the Mask's magic."  
Cloud seems interested. "I've seen stranger things back home... But thats just amazing, I must admit." He says.

Link laughs and swims along with the boat, similar to the way a dolphin would swim, occasionally ducking down under the water then leaping out. "I'll beat you there!" He says suddenly while airborne, speeding up while under the water.  
"Hold on... Feel free to throw up." Toon tells Cloud, switching the sails again to go faster and he pulls out a baton. He swings it around and suddenly a strong gust of wind is summons from behind them, speeding them up more. "Wooohoooo!"

Cloud holds onto the boat carefully, feeling a little more sick. "I need to stand up..." He tells himself, getting up carefully. He holds on to the mast of the boat, where the sail was being held up. The salty air of the water splashes against his face, as the wind blows through his blonde spikes for hair and clothing. Cloud looks at Link, who's swimmimg like a dolphin in a water. "I'm impressed!" Cloud yells, making sure Link will hear.  
Link laughs and speeds up.

"Sorry, I just can't resist a good race!" Toon says, laughing, now holding onto his cap. "Hey, I can see Windfall in the distance!"  
Cloud looks in the distance, seeing a small island. Or so it seemed, since they were far away. The sickness in his stomach was starting to go away thankfully, as they slowed down.

* * *

After a short while, Toon got close enough and docked the boat on a pier, Link on the other hand was standing there waiting for them. He was back to normal and completely dry.  
 _'I'd ask how, but I wouldnt get a proper answer...'_ Cloud thinks to himself upon looking at Link, getting off the boat carefully. He looked back at the boat, seeing its bright and decorative red color. It seems to have some sort of animal head at the front, Cloud found it pleasing.

"Huh? You like the boat? King of Red Lions this is. It used to talk until it's voice kinda... Drowned..." Toon comments, aiming to respond to Cloud. "Anyway, this is Windfall Island... It has a big windmill, a cafe bar place, an auction house and other places!"  
Cloud nods and observes the island, seeing a giant windmill which moved slowly. "Looks like something out of a fairytale." He comments, looking down at the smaller Link. "But I like it."

"A fairytale? I was given the nickname Toon because... Well, Everyone thinks my world is in the style of a cartoon!" Toon laughs a little. "Ah, if you want... You can spend the night here! I know a secret place that serves as an inn!"  
Cloud shrugs. "I'm up for that, its whatever Link want to do." He looks back at Link. "Those masks you have... They're like nothing I've seen before."

Link blushes lightly. "Yeah... I collected these masks, each grants you some type of power... I even have one that turns you into a god-like being..." He says. "And that does sound like a good idea... Where is it Toon?" Link asks.  
"Just follow me!" Toon then runs off into the main part of the island.

"He's too energetic." Cloud comments to Link while they leisurely followed Toon. He looked down at Link, noticing an evident blush on his face. "I know you try to hide it...its hard, I know. Trust me." The blonde trails a finger down Link's cheek. "You look so precious..."  
Link squints his eyes shut and pulls down his cap over them, blushing more at the compliment.

"Over here!" Toon calls out quietly, becoming them over. Toon knocks on a wooden wall 3 times then walks through and out of sight.  
 _'That'll never get old...'_ Cloud thinks as he smirks softly then sighing, following Toon through the wall, assuming there was no harm in doing so.  
Toon pulls both Link and Cloud to lead them down a secret passage. "Now, you gotta make a right here or it'll send you back out." He says so they remember for later. Then they reach an actual door. "Go on in." Toon says with a smile.

Cloud seems puzzled, looking down down at the smaller Link. "I don't see whats the big surprise..." He says as he opened the door.

It was an abandoned looking Inn, but surprisingly not that dusty, there was also a clear path that was completely free of dust. "That way is to the rooms." Toon says, pointing to the direction where the path is, then walking there himself.  
Cloud nods and follows Toon down the hallway. "Never seen a place so dusty... Not even the church back home..." He comments, looking at Link again. All this time, he had kept quiet.

Link had pulled his cap back up but his cheeks were still a little pink. Focusing on the rooms, there were 6 total and only two with beds big enough to fit both Link and Cloud together.

"I know it's only afternoon but I suggest sleeping now... I want to show you two something cool that only appears at night..." Toon says, then walking off to find his own bed.  
Cloud nods with understanding, looking at the room they walked into. It's simple, a plain wooden floor with wood paneled walls. He looks at the one bed they are supposed to share, smiling softly. "You get in first." Cloud says, just to tease him.

Link looks at Cloud and puffs his face up a bit, pretending to be annoyed. His ears also flutter a little. Before Link gets in bed though, he removes his cap, belts and boots before jumping on the bed, with surprisingly no dust flying off of it. "Seems sturdy and comfy enough." Link comments.  
"I agree." Cloud responds as he sits on the edge if the bed to take his boots off. Then he pauses. "Link... Is this going to fast for you?" Cloud places his boots to the side, swinging his legs up on the bed and resting his hands on his knees. "Be honest."

"I... I don't know... I don't have any experience with this stuff..." Link says, sounding unsure and embarrassed.  
Cloud shakes his head a little and sighs. "Its ok to feel that way...I guess..." He stretched his arms and layed on his back. "I... Have some experience, but... Its hard to explain..."  
"Hm? Hard to explain..? How?" Link seems a little interested, wondering if Cloud will provide him with useful information about love.

Cloud groans a little in annoyance. _'Guess I should tell him...'_ He told himself, looking up at the ceiling. "I've... Been with one other person. And..." He trails off. "I've never... Taken advantage of someone. I would never... But now that I'm with you..." Cloud says without saying too much, hoping Link would understand.  
"It's fine... I know that many people can go through different relationships and... We were both drunk that night, I don't blame you for what happened." Link replies, suddenly snuggling up to Cloud, although disappointed that he didn't reveal anything he would find helpful. "Now, let's do what Toon said and have a little shuteye... We're going to be waking up during the night after all..."

"Y-Yeah..." Cloud responds shyly, watching Link close his eyes. He looked so... Innocent. Well, so did Cloud himself but compared to the two of them, Link took the award. He sighs dreamily and closes his eyes, hoping to get some sleep.

Link quickly opens one eye and gives Cloud a kiss on the cheek before actually going to sleep.


	9. Stuff on a Ghost Ship

A few hours later Cloud wakes up, slowly opening his eyes. He groans softly and sits himself up, seeing Toon by the door. He sighs and stretches his arms, shaking Link's head. "Wake up, Chocobo..." Cloud says quietly.  
"Nnngggg..." Link slowly opens his eyes, looking up at Cloud. "I'm not a birrrrrrddd..." He yawns.  
Cloud smiles. "I'll throw you across the room and make you one if you don't get up." He threatens Link, though he obviously means for it to be a joke.

"Gyaaaa!" Link jumps out of bed and falls on the floor, grabbing his shoes and putting them on. Then he stands up and puts on his belts. "Agh, where did I put my cap?!" He asks himself. His hair as of now is messier than a pile of garbage.  
Cloud shrugs again, falling back onto the bed. "Not sure. Though it isnt my job to take care of your stuff. I'd look in that pouch you have."

Link looks under the bed. "Here it is!" He pulls out a red cap, then looks at Cloud, he seems to be staring at his head. "Is there something on me?" Link asks.  
Cloud shakes his head, standing up again. "Your hair is messy, that all." He runs his fingers through Link's hair playfully, stopping after a few moments. "Now it just got worse."  
Link makes a fake annoyed face to try and cover up his obvious blushing, then putting his cap on.

"Alright, follow me back to the ship..." Toon Link says in a whisper, quietly walking off.  
Cloud glances over at Toon, following him and leading the way. They exit the small dwelling and walk outside. It was a bright and quiet night, the moon was almost full and the stars beautifully twinkled. Cloud enjoyed it, seeing that Midgar was nothing cloudy, dark skies.

"Now then, let's make our way to the boat and leave quietly." Toon tells them, running to the boat himself.  
Link looks up at the stars. "Real pretty aren't they? Not even where I live has such a beautiful night sky."  
"Me neither. We dont really have many stars back home. Not that I've payed attention at all." Cloud admits. "I never really had an appreciation for the sky. It fears most people at Midgar."  
"What's so scary about the sky? Unless the moon is falling I don't think it would be scary..." Link chuckles a little, taking a seat in the boat.  
"The moon falling? I bet you havent even seen a meteor attempt to destroy the Planet..." Cloud looks at Link as he sits down in the boat. "I hope that answers your question."  
"Well, the moon was going to destroy everything and everyone if I didn't stop it... Literally. And people were fearing for their lives." Link tries to connect the two. "You should be scared of what's in the sky, and not the sky itself is what I'm saying... If you have do be scared at all."

"Stop talking about the Termina place, we're heading off now." Toon says, putting the sail up and sailing off.  
Cloud shrugs, pausing a moment and lowering his voice. "I've witnessed worse than just a rock coming down on a Planet... _Worse on my own behalf._ " He finishes, making sure Toon Link won't hear.

Link remains quiet, but gives Cloud a nice big hug, wanting to try and comfort him.  
Cloud sighs, looking down at Link. "You...don't have to do that." He says softly. "But, thanks."  
"I don't want you to be upset..." Link admits.

* * *

"Ah, there it is." Toon points to an eerie looking ship. "Don't be startled by how we get on..." He sails right into it. Everything goes black for a few seconds and once they can see, they are on the haunted ship.

Cloud's eyes go wide, trying to get as much light as possible. He couldn't see a thing but he could feel that Link was still hugging him, even through the darkness they were in. "... You scared?"  
"Of course I'm not! I just forgot to let go of you, that's all!" Link says then letting go of Cloud, blushing. He seems to be telling mostly the truth.

The ship seems dusty and from a time far off in the past. They seem to have landed in some sort of dining area.  
Cloud stretches his arms as he starts to see, he has a smirk on his face. _'He acts so innocent...'_ He comments in his head, smelling the dust from the ship. He was used to the smell, but even so, it reminded him of his dark past.

"Ok, get a good look around you two, because this isn't even the main attraction!" Toon says, jumping across the tables and kicking class cups off the tables. "It's fine they fix themselves."  
"They... Fix themselves?" Cloud comments in confusion, looking around the boat. "What is this place?"  
"A haunted ghost ship!" Toon giggles, then jumping up the stairs and into a hallway.  
"We better follow him, I don't wanna lose him..." Link says, grabbing Cloud's arm and pulling him along.

Cloud nods, shrugging his arm out of Link's grasp. He decides to follow Toon off the tables and chairs he ran and jumped on. He even manages to jump over the 3 tables at once, catching up to Toon fast.

Link's running is no match for theirs it seemed, so he puts on his bunny hood and runs after them. But he runs a little too fast and slams into a wall at the end of the hall, surprised it didn't break upon collision.

Toon giggles. "Your masks are so silly Time... Anyway, here's one of the bedrooms. It looks like a really rich lady would have used it." He says as he walks in.  
Link runs after him this time without the bunny hood.

Cloud grabs Link from the back of his tunic, stopping him from running. "You get extremely hyper really fast. I'd save your breath." Cloud suggests, walking with Link.  
Link looks a little embarrassed, ears twitching slightly. But he responds with a nod and walks next to Cloud.

"There are a few rips in the curtains and other decorative fabric... But it's still nice." Link comments on the room, walking in to look in drawers for anything of interest.  
Cloud nods in agreement, but seems confused. "You brought us here just to show us some ship and a room?" He asks. Sighing, he looks at the bed and bounces at it to lie down on it instantly.  
"Not just a room, there's more! And maybe you will even see the supernatural! Follow me!" Toon walks out of the room to go to another one.

* * *

Link uses this chance to leap at Cloud and pin him down on the bed, followed by a fun laugh. "Let's see how you find this...?" Link gives Cloud a quick yet passionate kiss on the lips. "Your turn." He says with a smirk.  
Cloud's eyes went wide for a moment, kissing Link back afterwards. He pulls back and smiled softly. "Hm...someone's excited..."

Link laughs a little then goes back at Cloud, now giving him some tongue.  
"You... You like that?" Link asks once he parts their lips.

Cloud gave an assuring look to Link, nodding afterwards. "Of course... You seem quite dominant today..."  
"I just want to show you what I'm capable of." Link chuckles, kissing Cloud again. This time only letting go to breathe.

Cloud's breath hitches slightly as he kisses Link back. He trails his fingers down the boy's body, finally finding the bottom of his tunic. Cloud runs his fingers up his delicate chest, feeling the bandages he put on him earlier.

Link's face was now a little red, he smiles. "Wanna... Do it for-"  
"Are you guys gonna follow me?" Toon asks.

Link quickly flips his head and stares at Toon. He's gone silent and his face is turning into a tomato.  
"Ahh..." Cloud sighs in defeat removing his hand from Link chest and rubbing his temples. _'God, he's so annoying...'_ He thought, blushing softly from the moment he had with Link. Cloud glares at Toon for a split second, then looks away. "Give us a moment. Don't think anything of it, alright?"  
"Uh... Okay... I'll check for ghosts I guess." Toon Link says, closing the door on them.  
"Ayaaah... If they get together... Then the timeline can't continue, because they won't produce offspring, will they? And that means no me, no Twilight..." Toon says to himself as he walks off, worried.

Link won't stop blushing. "Are... Are we actually going to..?"  
Cloud shrugs, looking at Link. "Whatever you want... As long as that kid doesn't poke in on anything, I'm willing to do anything..." He replies, kissing Link's cheek gently.

Link look nervous, looking back at the closed door, then his face turns a little stern as he looks back at Cloud.

"'That Kid' is named Toon..." Link sits up, getting off of Cloud. "Don't treat him like some dumb annoyance. He's been kind enough to give us a tour of this place and he's my family..." Link sighs, getting off the bed. "I'm sorry... Maybe a night when he's not with us. Ok?" Link walks to the door and opens it. "Toon, why are you crying? Oh, I see now... Come here..." Link picks Toon up and hugs him gently. Toon looks like he banged his head on something and somehow cut it.  
Cloud groans and stretches his arms, sighing afterwards. "If that's what you want... He is just a kid, after all. I shouldn't be so hard on him... But... He won't shut up sometimes..." He walks over to Link, seeing Toon's forehead bruised and bleeding slightly. "What happened?"

Toon sniffs. "I tripped and landed on some broken glass. I got all the glass out but it still huuuurts..." Toon explains, trying not to cry.  
"Calm down Toon, I'll take you home... Where do we get off?" Link says, then asks.  
"That way." Toon replies.  
"Ah. Come along Cloud... Hope my boat driving skills won't make you sick." Link says, exiting the boat afterwards.

Once they exit, they find themselves sitting in Toon's boat already. "Hm... Convenient." Link comments, gently putting Toon down. Toon opens a hatch in the boat and pulls out a blanket, wrapping himself in it.  
Cloud sits himself in the boat carefully, looking after Toon Link. _'Better look after him while Link's driving... He'll get worried otherwise.'_ He thinks, looking at Link. "Take it easy for the kid here." Cloud reminds Toon.  
Toon yawns and uses Cloud's leg as a pillow, he looks like he has a painful headache though.  
Link sets the sail up and then they're off. Sailing is more slow and relaxing this time, mainly so Link can control it.

Cloud sighs softly, looking down at Toon. He seems distressed, though Cloud isn't surprised. Who wouldn't be if they had glass sticking out of their head? Cloud nearly shudders at the thought as he looked away from the kid.  
Toon looks up at Cloud without moving his head. _'I don't know why, but I think he hates me...'_ Toon says in his thoughts, followed by a sigh and then trying to fall asleep.


	10. Tagging along for another ride

It takes either three or four hours, but they eventually arrive back on Outset as the sun starts rising. Toon has fallen asleep and Link seems a little tired himself.  
Cloud just about dozes off, until he hears Link park the boat. He sits up carefully, picking up Toon while he was at it. "I'll put him to bed... Then he'll leave me alone, hopefully." Cloud looks at Link. "We may as well get some sleep. I'm aware its daytime, but just to prepare ourselves for anything dangerous. You never know."  
"Well, this island is free of danger from what I know, but I guess we do need to get some strength back... Ah, we should also wrap a bandage around Toon's head." Link says, getting out of the boat himself. "Follow me." Link commands, walking toward a nearby house.

Cloud follows Link with a neutral expression. _"Lets get this over with."_ He whispers, following Link to the house.

Link opens the door of the house.  
"Ah, Time! Good to see you! Did you go on an adventure with Big Brother?" A young girl asks, her hair is blonde and is styled in two short piggy tails. Her dress, red with some white skulls on it and it lacks any sleeves. She also appears to be wearing sandals.  
"Yeah, he took me to see this ghost ship." Link replies.  
"Ah, I hope he takes me there one day... And who's this? He doesn't look like another one of you..." The girl asks.  
"He isn't..." Link laughs, then giving Cloud room to introduce himself.

Cloud shakes his head to respond to the 'another Link' comment. "Cloud. Nice to meet you." He holds Toon gently in his arms, putting him on a chair beside him without asking. "He got roughed up."

"Oh, I keep telling that boy to be more careful..." Says a voice from across the room, it sounds like an old lady. Then she comes into view. White hair tied up in a bun, wrinkly skin, slouched posture and a dark red dress. "Ah, Time... So nice of you to visit." She says.  
"Nice to see you again Grams." Link says with a smile.  
"Would you and your friend like some breakfast? I just made pancakes." She offers.

Cloud looks off to the side. "Whatever Link wants. I'm not complaining." He says, walking back behind the door and leaning against the wall. Cloud sighs softly, while the others were having a conversation. ' _I can't take care of that kid... I hope we leave soon...'_ Cloud thinks to himself.

"Well, I think Pancakes sound great!" Link says, then turning to Toon. "Let's patch him up, shall we Cloud?"  
" _Lets make this quick..._ " Cloud quietly comments, nodding afterwards. The kid really got on his mind, and not in a good way. It reminds him of some other children he knew, but he didn't want to bring it up in front of Link. Cloud gets off the wall.  
Link pulls out the bandages, also quickly checking his own. "Ah, some blood on mine... Time to change it." Link rips off a section of the bandages for Toon and hands the rest to Cloud. "You change mine while I apply Toon's." He says, then gently holds Toon's head and starts wrapping a bandage around it.

Cloud looked off to the side. "I'll just wait until you're done..." He said

Link quickly finished wrapping the bandage around Toon's head then lifted up his tunic. "Alright, your turn."  
Cloud unrolls the bandages and applies them to Link's waist, wrapping them gently. Once they seem tight enough, Cloud ties them off and stands up. "Does it hurt?"  
"Of course not. Like before, it's tight enough." Link comments with a smile.

"Stop playing doctor and come eat already!" Aryll beckons the two.  
Cloud smirks, walking over to the table to eat. "I'm not that hungry." He notes for them.  
"You can have at least one pancake, can't you?" Aryll asks as she begins digging into her pile.  
Link chuckles a little and begins eating his small-ish pile of 4 pancakes.

Cloud sighs, looking at Link's hungry behavior. "You're that hungry?" He asks, serving himself one pancake and eating it slowly.  
"Hey, Aryll is eating like 10!" Link replies for his defence, finishing his first pancake.  
Cloud looks confused, still eating his food. "You guys sure eat a lot." He comments, looking down at his half-eaten portion. "I've never heard someone eat that many, not even from a girl." Cloud adds.

"Well, Aryll uses up so much energy that it's not a surprise that she eats so much. Erm... Toon isn't much different." Grams replies.  
Aryll has already gulped down five of her pancakes and Link is only on his third.

Cloud finally finishes his pancake, moving his plate away. "Why do they use so much energy, then?" He asks.  
"They're still young children you know... You were a child before weren't you? Didn't you run around like mad and play games and such?" Grams asks.

Aryll finishes her pancakes before Link finishes his. "Alright I'm going off to play with Link now, cya grams!" Aryll says, then running out the door.  
"There's a pig named Link, don't question it." Link says with a chuckle.

"Sounds interesting." Cloud answered. "I... Never played games, seeing I had no friends to play with." He speaks quietly, trying not to make the conversation too awkward. "I put it simply."  
"Really? That's unfortunate..." Grams says.  
"Well, you have friends now. Like me!" Link says to try and brighten Cloud's spirits, even though they're technically more than friends.  
Cloud smirks, sighing softly. "Yeah, I wouldn't forget that." He glances at Link for a second, then looks around. "Nice place you got here."  
"Oh, it's just the basics..." Grams insists.

"Nnghh..."  
"Oh, looks like someone's waking up!"  
"Morning Toon!"

Toon gets up and sleepily trods over to them, sitting down where Aryll sat. "Mooooorning..." He yawns."  
Cloud looks at Toon, who seems better then before. He walks over to him and looks down. "How are you feeling?"  
Toon yawns. "Just sleepy." He replies.

"Ah, you want some pancakes child?" Grams asks, holding out the pancakes.  
Toon nods with a smile of his face. "Yes please!"

* * *

Minutes later...

Link and Cloud are standing outside, looking ready to leave the world of the Wind Waker.  
"So, where should we go..? Back to Midgar?" Link asks.

"WAIT!" Toon rushes to their side. "Wherever you're going... Please take me with you!" He insists.  
Cloud sighs in response, not looking at Toon directly. "Listen... Coming with us isn't a good idea, unless you'd like to be slaughtered alive." He pauses after a moment, figuring out what he just said. "There isnt a safer way to put that."  
"I stabbed a guy in the head, I may be young and small but I can fight!" Toon proclaims, then clinging to Link's leg.

Link sighs but can't help but smile a little bit. "How about if he promises to keep quiet?"  
Cloud looks at Link for a while before answering. "Fine... But I'm not responsible if he gets hurt." He looked ahead. "I've done that too many times..."  
"Yay!" Toon says, jumping with joy. "Where we going?"

"Midgar, right?" Link asks, just to be sure.  
Cloud nods. "Yeah. Just stay close and don't wander off." He assured the kid, looking at Link. "Should we get there using your instrument?"  
Link nods, handing his Ocarina over to Cloud once more.

"Oooh! Are we gonna use the Song of Soaring? I love using that song!" Toon can't help but comment.  
Cloud rolls his eyes, taking his time to hold the Ocarina properly. He got the hang of it again, but hesistated. "I can't play this..."  
Link looks confused. "Why not? You played it before and only you know where the 'save points' are in Midgar."

 _'This is ridiculous now that I think about it...'_ Cloud thought, shrugging. "Well so do you. I'm not confident using this thing..." He explains.  
"You played it beautifully before Cloud. And it's not like it's gonna break on you." Link says, trying to encourage him to play it.  
Cloud sighs in defeat, putting the instrument to his mouth. He thought for a moment, remembering the tune before playing it.

Link smiles as Cloud plays the Song of Soaring. He seems pleased by the melody then clings onto Cloud, and Toon clings to his leg again.

The trio are taken away by wings and arrive at their destination in around 30 seconds.

* * *

Toon looks around once he can observe the world. "Where's all the colour? Don't tell me this place is like Twilight's place where everything is supposed to be dark and edgy.

 _'I assume thats another one of their worlds, or something...'_ Cloud thinks, looking down at Toon. "Its more serious then that."  
"Should we show him around? Let's try to keep it safe if we do." Link suggests.  
"Hey! I can defend myself from people like twenty times bigger than me!" Toon says, thinking it's an insult.  
"Then you'll need to prove it. For now, stay out of trouble, I'm not the one taking care of you." Cloud explains, looking ahead. They teleported right in front of the church, which was a safe and convenient place.

"You don't need to take care of me anyway!" Toon replies, then looking at the Church, suddenly looking enchanted.  
"Reminds you of the places we pulled our master swords, doesn't it?" Link says with a chuckle. "Oh, any parks? Like... Plain grassy parks? Or is grass non-existent here?"  
Cloud shakes his head. "All destroyed." He answers simply. He recalls the times him and Tifa would spend together at the park in his mind, until destruction came. Could then begins walking into the church.

"Well, any open spaces? If not sailing or sleeping, Toon's running around like a cheetah hyped up on coffee and sugar." Link says, a little worried about what will happen if Toon doesn't go nuts with running.  
"I wouldn't be surprised for a kid that hyper all the time." Cloud responds. "There's and ocean a few hours away from here, but no boat to use."  
"Well he can't run on water. Is there a beach?" Link asks further.  
"Where there's an ocean, there's always a beach." Cloud answers, looking at Toon who was roaming about the church.  
Link smiles. "Of course. But since everything else was destroyed I was expecting the beaches to have been destroyed too." He laughs.  
Cloud shakes his head again. "Mainly the villages suffered the impact. The beaches shouldn't be affected." He explains, looking down at Link. "I'd run it by the kid, see what he thinks."

"Toon!" Link calls out, with Toon coming back on Gerudo.  
"This yellow ostrich likes me!" He laughs a little, laying on Gerudo's back.  
Cloud walked towards Toon and Gerudo, leaning against one of the walls and crossing his arms. "Chocobo." He corrected him, closing his blue eyes.  
"I didn't know what this thing was called..." Toon responds, rolling over to laying on his back and looking a little annoyed.

"Hey, would Gerudo like the beach?" Link asks. "Epona normally does."  
Cloud shrugs. "Maybe. It might be thirsty, too... But it'll hate the saltwater. We can stop by a river and feed it." He suggests, looking at Toon.  
"Sure!" Link says as he grabs Toon. "So shall we all hop on Gerudo?"

Cloud once again shakes his head. "Go ahead. I got my own ride in the back. It won't like the heavy load, trust me."  
"Alright then, I'll follow you." Link then hops onto Gerudo with Toon in his lap. "Ready when you are!"

Cloud walks to his bike, opening the sword display. He grabs the longest, sharpest one, and sheathed it onto his back. He closes the display, starting the bike and reving the engine. "Stay a bit behind me, the chocobo will feel more comfortable."  
"Got it. Follow that bike!" Link says, pointing toward Cloud. When Cloud starts to move, so does Gerudo.

* * *

Cloud starts to drive out of Midgar through the back passage, with Link following him from a short distance. They exit Midgar with no difficulty. Cloud looks around, heading straight forward then turning left, driving through a forest.  
Link manages to keep Gerudo steady and still have Cloud in his sight. " **Are we put stopping here**!?" Link shouts out the question.

Cloud looks back at Link, then looks back ahead to park beside a tree. He notices Link stop on Gerudo beside him as he hops off. "We can take a break here. Gerudo would appreciate it." Cloud insists, looking at the tired chocobo. He pulled out some greens from his pocket, feeding them to the bird.

Link nods, then letting himself fall and relax beside a tree.  
Toon laughs. "We're all generally chill and easygoing when not on an adventure." He comments.  
"I can tell." Cloud adds, petting the chocobo on the head. He sits himself down by a tree, opposite from Link so they can look straight ahead at each other.

"Its strange, chocobos usually run away if not tied off by rope. This one seems to like you." Cloud comments.  
"Really? Well, I guess I must have a thing with animals. The song helps too." Link says, pulling out his Ocarina and beginning to play Epona's Song.  
Gerudo chirps happily, walking to Link and twitching its head at the sound. Cloud observes this carefully, closing his eyes afterwards and listening.

They sat there relaxing for around half an hour. Link and Toon even fell asleep, with Link resting against the tree and not slumping to the ground, with Toon stretched out on his lap.


	11. Shirtless on the Beach (lenny)

Cloud looks up at the sky. It seems to be afternoon, due to the position of the sun in the sky. Cloud stretches his arms, leaning his head back on the tree. "I should of got more sleep..." He sighs.

Link and Toon continue to snore in their sleep, they're obviously not going to wake up on their own.

Cloud closes his eyes again, letting the wind drift pass his exposed neck. "I should just sleep at the beach while they swim... I'm not that interested anyways." He says to himself, then looking at Link. "Fast asleep..." He looks at Gerudo, who is sitting patiently after a day's rest. Cloud grabs a nearby pinecone and gently throws it at Link.  
Link groans and sleepily looks at Cloud, now awake. "Did you have to do that?" He rhetorically asks as he stretches. "I was having an interesting dream... You were crossdressing in it for some reason." Link says, then picking up Toon and holding him in his arms as if Toon was a baby. He then got back on Gerudo.  
Cloud sighs and shakes his head. "That's something I'd rather not think off..." He admits, sitting up and stretching his legs. He dusts off his pants and got on Fenrir, turning it on and reving the engine. "Ready when you are."

Link nods. "I'm ready. Lead the way." He replies, gently holding onto Toon with a good grip.

Cloud quickly leads the way as they headed through the forest to the beach. On the way there, Toon woke up and they encountered a few animals, even a large winged creature. Luckily Cloud managed to fend it off while they finally reached the beach.

* * *

"Yay! The beach!" Toon exclaims, jumping off of Gerudo and quickly taking off his boots. He starts looking around for crabs.

Cloud parks his bike and puts away all of his swords except for one. He looks around, finding a large rock with a good view of the ocean. Cloud trots over to the rock and sits in front of it, leaning his back against it.  
Link smiles, letting Gerudo relax by getting off of him then going to sit next to Cloud. "Hope he doesn't get sand in his pants." He says, trying to start up a conversation.  
"Wouldn't doubt it." Cloud replies, closing his eyes. The sun hits his skin gently, but it wasn't too much that it would burn, seeing how there was a slight breeze.  
Link leans against Cloud to relax. He quickly has to spring up though because Toon let out a yelp.

But this turns out it was just to get Link's attention.

"Gotcha!" Toon says as he splashes Link with water.  
"Oh really now?" Link replies, then splashing Toon back, making him fall over on the water. "HEY CLOUD, WANNA JOIN?" Link shouts to ask.

Cloud glances over to the two of them, closing his eyes afterwards. "Not interested!" He replies, shouting but not nearly as loud.  
Link glares cheekily at Cloud and runs back over to him, attempting to pull him up and drag him towards the water. "Come on, it's more fun with more people!"  
Cloud pulls his hand away, sitting back down. "I didn't come here to swim." He says firmly, closing his eyes again.

"Aw, can't you at least splash around for a bit? Oh, I should probably take my now wet clothes off so they can dry, aha." Link asks then comments, slowly taking off his red cap and tunic plus the belts. Surprisingly the bandages aren't wet or bloody yet. Link then puts his cap, tunic and belts on a dry rock. "Hm, should I put on my blue tunic or will it be a waste to do so?"

Cloud glances at Link, interested for a moment. He turns away and closed his eyes once more. _'He's more muscular than I first thought...'_ Cloud thinks, smirking softly, though Link couldn't see it. "Don't bother."

"Ah, alright then. Don't see the point of turning Zora either." Link laughs, turning around to look at Cloud. "Enjoying the view?"  
Cloud nods subtly, feeling the slow breeze gently blow across his skin and through his blonde hair. It was pretty quiet as well, other than Toon splashing in the water by himself.

Link gives a quick smirk then runs back to the water, bending down to whisper something to Toon.  
 _"Get out the bottles Toon. If Cloud doesn't wanna go to the water, the water will have to go to him."  
_ Toon giggles and nods. _"Got it!"_

The two fill up 7 bottles total then run over to Cloud, splashing him with the water from the bottles all at once.

Cloud's eyes shoot open as he gasps sharply, the cold water hitting his skin. "Wh-What?" Getting up, he grabs Link's shoulder tightly, glaring down at him. Shaking his head, he sighs. "G-guess its not a big deal." Cloud says, gritting his teeth and shaking the water out of his hair.

Link laughs a little, not too fussed about Cloud's tight grip on his shoulder. "Wanna take that shirt off and put it out to dry?"  
Cloud sighs again, not answering for a moment. _'That bastard...'_ He thought sarcastically, smirking secretly. "Guess I have no choice." Cloud chuckles, removing his pauldron and taking off his shirt.

 _'Me likey.'_ Link thinks to himself, nose starting to run with blood a little upon seeing Cloud's muscular chest.

Cloud undid the zipper on his shirt, shrugging the clothing off and tossing it on the rock behind him. He looks at Link, smirking. 'He really can't hide a blush on his face that easily...well, not even I could.' Cloud thought.

"Hey Toon, can you try making a sand castle on this beach? If it's good I'll give you a little treat..." Link asks.  
Toon nods. "I'll do my best!" He says, then running off.  
"There we go. Now we can just admire each other, aha." Link says with a little chuckle, now looking at Cloud.  
Cloud shrugs, looking down and saying nothing. "Whatever you want."

"Well it's about time you're giving me some eye candy!" Link replies, then sitting down on the sand, staring into the distance.  
Cloud smirks. "I never knew you were dirty in that small head of yours." He comments, thinking afterwards. _'Thats something Zack would say...'  
_ "Hey!" Link says in fake annoyance. "And I wouldn't call wanting to look at some nice abs dirty in any way..." He replies.

"Now that I look at it, this scene reminds me of when I was a kid at the Great bay... Would you like some nice pictures to go along with a story?"  
Cloud shrugs. "It's your choice. Your past seems less dangerous than mine anyways."

"Alright then..." Link quickly runs off and comes back with around a dozen pictures. He holds out the first one, it's of Great Bay but it looks a little duller. "When I first got to Great Bay, it was obviously affected by whatever Majora was doing to it. I helped put a Zora named Mikau to rest and that's how I got the Zora mask." Link pulls out another picture. It's a picture of a younger looking Link laying on the sand with the bunny hood on, it's positioned up close to Link and focusing on his side. "But when I got there both me and Epona were rather tired. All the time travel wasn't helping."

"I bet... Traveling can be a pain without some sort of vehicle." Cloud pointed out, noticing the appealing scenery in the photos. Much brighter then Midgar, for sure.

Link nods, pulling out another photo. "But I didn't have time to rest, I had to infiltrate a pirate fortress to get back some Zora eggs." The photo shown contains the younger looking Link wearing a ridiculous mask made out of stone. While taking a selfie with one of the Pirates in question - a dark skinned woman equipped with a spear-like weapons and wearing an outfit that a genie would wear; she seems oblivious to Link's presence. There is also the fortress itself In the background.

Cloud looks in confusion at the photo. "You sure spend your spare time in odd ways... I'd never do that." He responds. "I assume you saved those... Zora eggs?"

Link nods again. "The young Zora's at the hall... Remember them? They were the eggs I saved actually." Link responds, then pulling out some more photos. "After all that - and skipping some details - I went to the temple of the area to free the third giant." He holds out a picture of what looks like some type of golden water display, with pipes and wheels that look like they turn as the water is pushed against them. It's probably how some would imagine a waterwheel in the fantasy realm.

Cloud looks at the photo in astonishment. "Seems advanced for your kind of technology, I must say. So those Zoras... They must be greatful that you saved them."

"I didn't save just the Zora's... I saved everyone in Termina... Eventually." Link replies, keeping on a smile. "And I have a bunch more masks as souvenirs too! I've even got one that turns me into a Giant... When it wants to, that is..."  
"Too bad you can't just summon it. That's pretty inconvenient." Cloud points out. "It must a helpful mask for that reason."  
"Yeah, that's probably it." Link replies with a chuckle, then he stares deep into Cloud's eyes. "You wanna see the power of my Fierce Deity mask later?"  
Cloud shrugs. "Sounds interesting, whatever you want. I honestly have no other ideas I'm interested in doing." He admits.  
Link smirks. "It's so powerful you won't know what hit you." He teases, poking Cloud's nose.  
Cloud flinches his head back slightly, soon figuing out what happened. He sighs softly. "Well, if it can hit me." He jokes.

Link rolls over so he's lying down in Cloud's lap. "Your legs are a better pillow than the sand." He comments with a soft chuckle.  
Cloud rolls his eyes but has a soft look in them, looking down at Link. He gently runs his fingers through his hair, lying down afterwards with his hands behind his head.


End file.
